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B 


A SHORT DESCRIPTION 


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OF THE 



Pennsylvania 



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Its Extent/ Capacity, Value, Progress, Duration of 
- Progress, Its Economic Importance, and 
Its Early History. 


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V ' 

-'•V';y-yr 




BY 



JAMES F. JONES, M. E. 




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M 

















































B 


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A SHORT DESCRIPTION 


OF THE 

Pennsylvania 


e 

Anthracite Coal Field. 


i 


Its Extent, Capacity, Value, Progress, Duration of 
Progress, Its Economic Importance, and • 
l 'i/ Its Early History. 






BY 


V 


C,OPYft<g,„ 

' J 

0c ‘f 3 1892 


JAMES F. JONES, M. E. 


ho jy 


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PHILADELPHIA. 







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Copyrighted 
By James F. Jones, M. E). 
1892. 


• « 


o 




BRIER SYNOPSIS. 



^ennsjManifl recite (03I 



A short description of the extent, capacity, value, duration of 
progress and the economic importance of the Anthra¬ 
cite Coal Field of Pennsylvania. 


The following are some of the important summaries : 

Number of Acres, 312,000—square miles, 4873. 

Tonnage of Marketable Coal remaining, 12,000,000,000 tons. 

Time required to exhaust the first one fourth, forty-four years. 

Annual out-put at the end of forty-four years, estimated to be 100,000,000 tons. 


Out-put in 1891, 401 million tons. 

Average cost per ton, on cars,—labor and material, ... $1 34 

Average cost per ton, on cars, including all charges for improve¬ 
ments, depreciation, land exhausted, taxes and insurance, . 1.58 

Average cost per ton, on cars, including interest on the value of 

the coal lands,. 1.90 

Approximate average cost per ton, on cars, for the Wyoming 

Region,. 1.20 

Approximate average cost per ton, on cars, for the Lehigh Region, 1.34 

Approximate average cost per ton, on cars, for the Schuylkill 

Region,. 1.46 


Value of Coal Lands and Collieries, about .... $300,000,000.00 

Loss in the Iron Manufacturing Division of the Anthracite Market, nearly i 
3,000,000 tons. 

Gain in the Western Division of the market, for the same period, is nearly 
equal to the loss in the Iron Manufacturing Division. 


( 3 ) 






I AID EX 


THE PEAI AlSy LVAAI IA ANTHRACITE COAL FIELD. 


Area.. . . 7 

Breakers—Capacity, etc.26 

Bituminous Coal Fields, Penna. ... 23 
Cost of Colliery improvements, equip¬ 
ments, etc.32 

Cost per ton, not advancing with 

depth.33 

Cost per ton on cars.39 

Cost of explosives.48 

Cost of mine lumber.44 

Coal production of the world and for¬ 
eign countries. 29 

Columnar section plate ....... S 

Cross section plate. 9 

Description of the field. 5 

Division of the field. 7 

Duration of tonnage progress .... 25 
<< « M (I ... 12 

Depreciation mine improvements . . 36 

Future capacity of market.28 

Gross output up to decadent period . 31 


History—Early history of coal field . 18 
Iron production in Pennsylvania . . 22 
“ “ “ United States . . 21 


Leases of coal land's . . 38 

Life of a colliery .38 

Map of the coal field .... Frontispiece 

Mine drainage.33 

Measures — Coal thickness of ... . 10 

Prices of Anthracite.10 

| Percentages of sizes.24 

Producing capacity of field.26 

Tonnage estimates.11-16 

Tonnage estimates by other authors . 12 

Tonnage, maximum future.26 

Tonnage, “ “ 31 

Tonnage distribution.21 

Tonnage consumed in iron manufac¬ 
turing .22 

Value of coal lands .36 

Western Market.23 


TABULAR STATEAENTS. 

A—Coal production, growth in different periods, Penna., United States and for¬ 
eign countries.* . . ..30 

B—Cost of mining Anthracite and Bituminous in Penna., United States and for¬ 
eign countries.45 

C—Cost of mining Anthracite in Pennsylvania by counties, tonnage, wages, 

material, improvements, amounts received for coal.46 

D—Cost of mining in Pennsylvania Anthracite and Bituminous Fields, labor 
supplies, amount received at mines per ton, employees, and tons per 

employee.47 

Appendix—Tonnage estimate in coal field, by other authors.last page 


PLATES. 


Map of the Anthracite Coal Field of Pennsylvania.Frontispiece 

Columnar Section of the Coal Veins. 8 

Cross Section of the Coal Veins .. Q 





































A SHORT DESCRIPTION 


OF THE 

Pennsylvania Anthracite Coal Field, 

ITS EXTENT, CAPACITY, VALUE, AND ITS ECONOMIC IM¬ 
PORTANCE, WITH AN ESTIMATE OF THE DURATION 
OF THE PROGRESS OF THE BUSINESS. 


Anthracite coal is to be found in the Rocky Mountains, in the 
Alps, in Wales, in Southern Russia, in China, and perhaps in other 
known places, as well as in the State of Pennsylvania. 

No anthracite field has been developed to the extent of that of 
Pennsylvania, and based upon the present knowledge of the coal 
fields of the world, and the geology in general, it may be stated 
that the Pennsylvania deposit is remarkable for its extent, quality 
and value. 

The deposit lies to the east of the centre of the State ;* practically 
between the rivers Delaware and Susquehanna. It is quite probable 
that its original boundaries were much more extended, and that the 
erosive and transporting powers of the two rivers named, reinforced 
by the Hudson, have performed more mining and transporting of 
coal than has been left for man. The sporadic character of the coal 
fields of the country, as represented by a recently made Coal 
Development Government Map, would indicate to some degree, that 
the whole country had been at one time, to a great extent, if not 
entirely, covered with coal. 

The entire field under consideration is within the State lines : 
its extreme length is 115 miles, and its greatest width, on a slightly 
oblique line across the basin is fifty-five miles; the northeastern 
extremity of the field is at the southeastern corner of Susquehanna 
County, and the southwestern is near the banks of the Susquehanna 
River, nine miles above Harrisburg, in Dauphin County. The total 
distance between the extreme points named is 118 miles. The course 
of the general trend of the main synclinal axis of the Southern 
Basin is N. 65 East. 


Boundaries of 
field. 


* See map on front page. 


( 5 ) 


6 


Limit of coal 
measures. 


Differences be¬ 
tween the 
three chief va¬ 
rieties of coal. 


The coal measures crop to the surface and disappear at the 
northeastern end of the Wyoming Basin and at a point nine miles 
above Harrisburg: at the northern point, permanently, within the 
United States; but at the southern, after a lapse of some seventy 
miles to the southwest, it reappears, bearing this time bituminous 
coal as its economic product; and this begins the Bituminous Coal 
Fields of Western Pennsylvania, which extend glso into the 
Western and Southern States. There may be no ascertained proof 
to determine that the Anthracite and Bituminous Fields of Penn- 
svlvania were at one time connected : their relative position and the 
character of the anthracite coal in the western part of the field 
make such a theory somewhat probable. The Bituminous Coal 
Field of Wales passes from one form of bituminous, at the eastern 
end, into another near the centre, then into anthracite at the western 
end of the same basin; in Russia the bituminous coal within the 
same basin also passes into anthracite. 

Several theories have already been advanced as to the origin of 
coal and the cause of the difference between anthracite, bituminous 
and lignite, but none seem to be free from objections. The one most 
popularly accepted about the origin is: that it is the product of 
vegetation, produced in the form of a dense forest of trees; proof of 
the wood origin is to be found within the structure of the coal, and 
in its analyses. The fact that the Anthracite Coal Basin, and coal 
veins in Wales produce both anthracite and bituminous, as well also 
the different grades of bituminous, and that the Russian Anthracite 
Coal Veins pass into bituminous in the same basin, is strong proof 
that anthracite and bituminous are the product of the same vege¬ 
tation and of the same period, but by what process the different 
conditions have been produced is not satisfactorily solved, the theory 
if corrugations and pressure is inadequate, and the one of distilla¬ 
tion of the hydro-carbon fails to meet the objections. Some coal 
veins are more than 200 feet in thickness, and it has been determined 
that such a thickness of coal vein requires a sheet of vegetation 
more than 2000 feet in thickness to produce it. 

The characteristic differences in the three coals are to be found 
in the percentages of fuel matter in the form of fixed and hydro¬ 
carbon in the percentage of ash, and in the percentage of moisture. 
Anthracite contains the larger percentage of fuel matter, and the 
less of ash and moisture. Lignite contains the less amount of fuel 
matter and the greater of ash and moisture. Each of the three 
kinds will vary materially within the range of its own percentages, 
and yield kinds of coal varying in quality and commercial value. 
The density, hardness, and lustre of the different coals add materially 



7 


to their saleable condition. Lignite is the most readily ignited of 
the coals, and the one most liable to ignite spontaneously, and this 
fact detracts from its value for shipping for long distances. 

As a rule the eastern and western extremities of the anthracite 
field produce the softer kind of coal, and the more central portion 
yields the harder. The difference in the market value of the dif¬ 
ferent kinds is largely due to the peculiarities of the market, rather 
than to the chemistry of the coal. The product of the same vein 
is more difficult to prepare for market at some localities than at 
others, and none of the veins would seem to be exempt from these 
varying conditions; on this account additional cost is incurred 
in the preparation for market. The different systems of mining 
practiced and imposed by the varying angles of dip, or inclination 
of the veins adds additional cost to the preparation of the coal, on 
account of the larger quantity of refuse matter, necessarily brought 
out of the mines, inter-mixed with the coal, and discharged into the 
breaker; but this additional cost is sometimes more than balanced by 
the less cost in mining and loading of the material in the mines. 

SURFACE AREA. 

The surface area of the Pennsylvania Anthracite Coal Field is 
estimated at 312,000* acres, or 487 i square miles. 

DIVISIONS OF THE FIELD. 

The field is divided into basins, geologically known as the 
Wyoming, or Northern; Lehigh, or Middle ; the Mahanoy and 
Shamokin, or Western Middle, and the Schuylkill and Panther 
Creek. The former is a well defined single basin fifty-five and one- 
half miles in length by a varying breadth, from six to nothing, and 
of nearly 174 square miles; the Lehigh is composed of several 
small disconnected basins of various lengths and breadths; the 
Mahanoy and Shamokin Division is composed of one general basin 
forty-two miles long by four and one-half miles at its greatest 
breadth ; and the Schuylkill and Panther Creek has a length of 
sixty-nine miles by a maximum breadth of nine miles. It is seldom 
that Nature has been found in any coal field to be so liberal as 
she has been in this, in the quantity of coal deposited for an equal 
thickness of strata. 

Upon the following two pages will be found a columnar and 
cross sections of the coal veins in the Schuylkill Valley Division of 
the field. The sections are more ideal than representative of any 

* This area covers all the Lykens Valley outcrop in the Schuylkill, Panther Creek, Mahanoy 
and Shamokin Valleys, but the estimate of the coal tonnage does not include the Lykens Valley 
Vein beyond where it is supposed to be productive. 


Extent of 
Basins. 


EAST SUAFT POTTSVJLLB COLLIERIES 


w»yar 4 © 




Bench Moiml.Mii llt'il 


Little Truer Mm I 


Little Clmtun Bed 


Clinton Bed 


Little Diamond 'Bec^ 
Diamond Bed 


Orchard Be<^ 


Orchard Bed 


Foot Bed 
Seven Foot Bed 

Mammoth Bed 



Valiev Bed ,V*?. . 
kens ValfeyBrd H93., 


kens Valley Bed N°4 ' 


Valley Bed MS. 
Valley Bed K°6. 


>«■ 

n 


JTajrun/(rtfv 3e<Z 


PENNSYLVANIA ANTHRACITE 
COAL FIELD. 

PHILADELPHIA, SEPT., 1892. 

Columnar Section of the Coal 
Measures in Schuylkill 
Valley. 


NAMES OF THE COAL VEINS AND THEIR 
THICKNESS. 


Peach Mountain, . 


4 

ft. 

0 

in. 

Little Tracy, . . . 

. 

2 

tt 

2 

ti 

Big Tracy . 


14 

u 

0 

U 

Little Clinton, . . 

. 

3 

a 

3 

tl 

Clinton, . 


8 

a 

8 

it 

Vein,. 


2 

tt 

5 

(i 

Vein, . 


2 

u 

5 

it 

Little Diamond, 

», 

2 

n 

5 

it 

Diamond, .... 


13 

u 

4 

t( 

Little Orchard, . . 

. 

2 

u 

5 

it 

Orchard, . 

• 

4 

it 

1 

it 

Primrose, .... 

. 

13 

u 

9 

it 

Holmes, . 


G 

<( 

4 

it 

Vein, . 

. 

2 

(t 

7 

it 

Vein, . 


3 

tt 

6 

it 

Four Foot, . . . . 


9 

it 

8 

u 

Seven Foot, . . . 

. 

11 

a 

10 

it 

Vein, . 


3 

u 

1 

tl 

Mammoth, . . . . 


27 

u 

1 

u 

Vein,. 


2 

tt 

6 

it 

Skidmore, . . . . 

. 

9 

it 

6 

it 

Buck Mountain, 

. 

8 

tt 

0 

ti 

Lykens Valley, No. 

i, 

4 

ti 

0 

ft 

a a a 

2, 

4 

u 

6 

It 

u tt u 

3 , 

3 

u 

6 

ti • 

U tl it 

4 , 

4 

u 

0 

ti 

u u tt 

5 , 

5 

ti 

6 

u 

a u it 

6, 

2 

tt 

6 

it 


Total, ... 178 ft. 0 in. 














































































9 






















10 


Thickness of 
coal hearing 
measures. 


Thickness of 
coal measures. 


Interconglom- 
erate coals. 


Current Anth¬ 
racite selling 
prices showing 
superior value 
of Lykens Val¬ 
ley vein. 


one locality. The information is taken from the recently published 
report of the Pennsylvania Geological Survey—in part. 

The coal bearing measures have their greatest thickness in the 
Wyoming Basin, at Wilkes-Barre and Scranton ; in the Mahanoy 
and Shamokin, at Ashland, and in the Schuylkill and Panther 
Creek, at Tamaqua, Pottsville, Minersville and Tremont. The 
greatest depth from the surface to the Lykens Valley, or lowest 
vein, is in the Schuylkill Basin, in the vicinity of Pottsville, where 
it will approach 1100 yards, and bearing from eighteen to twenty- 
two coal veins, yielding from thirty-five to fifty yards of coal. To 
reach the Lykens Valley Vein in the lowest part of the basin, a 
vertical shaft seven-eighths of a mile will be necessary. 

The thickness of the coal bearing measures at Ashland is 600 
yards, carrying some twelve coal veins, yielding twenty to twenty- 
five yards of coal; to reach the lowest vein, in the deepest part of 
the basin, a vertical shaft half a mile long will be required. The 
greatest thickness of the coal bearing measures near Wilkes-Barre 
is 600 yards, the number of workable coal veins is ten to fourteen, 
and the total thickness of coal is from thirty to forty yards. A 
vertical shaft nearly 600 yards deep will be required to reach the 
lower vein in the deepest part of the basin. 

The coal veins vary in thickness from a few inches to upwards 
of 100 feet. The Lykens Valley Vein occurs within the conglom¬ 
erate rock forming generally the base of the coal measures. Being an 
interconglomerate coal and formed at a period preceding and ante- 
ceding those when the waters were turbulent—having sufficient 
current to carry and deposit pebbles of the size of small eggs—as is 
supposed to be the case while forming the conglomerate rocks, making 
the table upon which the bed lies, and the roof covering it. Much 
of the vein matter has been displaced and carried away by erosion, 
leaving its several members in a very irregular and unreliable 
thickness. 

During the formation of the conglomerate rock bed, some six 
or seven coal veins were formed, the largest of which is about ten 
feet in thickness. The conglomerate series are generally known as 
the Lykens Valley or Interconglomerate Veins; and eight yards of 
coal are given as their aggregate thickness in the most favorable 
localities. 

The Interconglomerate coal veins* are in their best and most 
profitable condition at the western extremity of the Schuylkill and 

* Tlie wholesale price per ton the product of the Lykens Valley Vein commands in New 
York at the present time is $5.00 for Broken, $5.50 for Egg, ¥6.00 for Stove, and $5.00 for 
Chestnut sizes, as against M.00, $4.45, $4.85 and $4.65 for the same sizes and in the same order 
for the highest price commanded by the other reins. 


.11 


Shamokin basins ; they have been found at the outcrops at intervals 
throughout the said basins, and may develop to a great thickness at 
any unproven point; but past experience in the most eastern devel¬ 
opments has discouraged owners for the time being, and directed 
their attention to veins less irregular and more profitable. The Le¬ 
high and Wyoming Sections of the field do not contain the Lvkens 
Valley Veins. 

The Buck Mountain, bearing also other names, is the next vein B u <k Mount- 
of the series, and it varies from three to thirty feet at different ain a "^ g thl r 
points ; it is found in its greatest thickness near Wilkes-Barre. 

The Mammoth, the “ King Vein ” of the field, and the next 
vein above the Buck Mountain, attaining a thickness of upwards of 
sixty* feet, with a general thickness of from twenty to forty-five feet. 

It is found in its greatest thickness, as one member, in the eastern 
end of Schuylkill and Panther Creek Basins, in the vicinity of 
Ha/deton and at Shenandoah City ; and it is frequently found in 
two, three and perhaps four members, all passing under different 
names at different points. 

The veins above the Mammoth vary in thickness from a few 
inches to about sixteen feet. All of the veins vary in thickness and 
condition at short intervals. 

ESTIMATE OF TONNAGE. 

With any known thickness and area of a vein of coal, it is not 
difficult to make a close estimate of the tonnage contained in it. 

The many changes of thickness and condition through which the 
veins passes throughout the field, make it difficult to determine the 
tonnage contained within the field—the vein thickness factor is to 
some extent empirical under all conditions. Occular knowledge and 
personal acquaintance with the character of each vein, in the differ¬ 
ent localities, as well as an independent and untrammeled mind, and 
we may perhaps add, some degree of courage, are necessities to ap¬ 
proach accuracy in the estimate of the tonnage. 

The common source of the error or differences in the tonnage 
estimates is to be found in the vein thickness factor used. It would 
be a remarkable coincident for any two persons to produce like 
results and it would scarcely be possible for the same person to pro¬ 
duce like results in two estimates of the same section. There is, 
however, a reasonable limit for this personal error. When approxi¬ 
mate estimates have a greater difference than from ten to fifteen per 
cent., the probability is that some other cause than personal error 
has produced it. 

* Given by the Geological Survey at 103 feet near Hazleton. 


Estimates by 
other authors. 


The authors 
of, and the 
purposes of 
their estimates 


Vein yield. 


Future 

tonnage. 


Three estimates of the tonnage in the Pennsylvania Anthracite 
Coal Field have already been made and published, and before pro¬ 
ceeding any further, notice of them had better be made here. To 
fail to notice them, coming as they do from such eminent sources, 
may, perhaps, be considered presumptive. 

The three estimates are given in the appended statement on the 
last page. The first was issued in 1879 by P. W. Shaetfer, Esq., of 
Pottsville, now deceased; the second was published in 1880 by Mr. 
Joseph S. Harris, and the third by the last author in May, 1892. 
The tonnage results of the estimates are given as under : 

Mr. Shaeffer’s .... 26,360,576,000 tons. 

Mr. Harris’s of 1880 . . 13,250,392,100 tons. 

Mr. Harris’s of 1892 . . 14,453,397,600 tons. 

The first two estimates are so grossly at variance as to need 
some explanation, which has not been given ; the third is a slight 
advance on the second. Mr. Shaetfer assumed two-thirds of the 
product as waste. Mr. Harris, in the 1880 estimate, assumed seventy- 
three per cent.; in the 1892 estimate, Mr. Harris states that he is 
hopeful that fifty per cent, will be realized. In 1878 he informed 
the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company that they were realizing 
34.4 per cent. A few years later he advanced to about thirty- 
nine per cent. Mr. P. W. Shaetfer was a Geologist and Mining 
Engineer professionally, and a great portion of his life was devoted 
to the practical coal geology of the field under consideration and 
the developments of coal properties, and as a result, he became the 
peer of his profession in wealth. His estimate under consideration 
was made in the interest of science, and was read before the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science, in September, 1879. 
Outside of any consideration for the high character of the author, 
there is every reason to believe that he was free from the influence of 
friendly or unfriendly interest, and in search only of accurate, 
scientific knowledge while making his estimate. 

Mr. Joseph S. Harris made his estimate of 1880 for the Phila¬ 
delphia and Heading Coal and Iron Company’s Receivers, while he 
was engaged as Engineer and Superintendent of Mines at Lansford, 
Pa., for the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. The estimate 
was the basis upon which he determined the valuation of the Phila¬ 
delphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company’s property. The third 
estimate was published by the author of the second in the Forum, in 
May of this year; Mr. Harris, in his 1880 estimate and in the prog¬ 
nostication of the future, says:* “The tonnages are spoken of as 

♦See Mr. Harris's report, pages 18 and 19, also 12,1:! and 14, published with the Philadelphia 
and Reading reports in 1880 and 1881. 


shipments here because the demand, which would keep on increas¬ 
ing, is, after 1910, interfered with by the inability of the Anthracite 
Field to maintain production, which hereafter is limited by what 
can be shipped. In this statement the maximum annual shipment 
for the whole field is placed at about thirty-seven millions of tons, 
and the culminating point at about the year 1915.” 

Upon what theory Mr. Harris based his future estimates is not 
stated; eight years later, 1888,the fixed maximum had been ex¬ 
ceeded by over 1,000,000 tons, and eleven years later, 1891, 3,500- 
000 tons in excess of the estimated maximum had been realized, with 
the business running in its ordinary course, its progress being normal, 
♦ In 1892 Mr. Harris prophesies the maximum output at 60,000,000, 
but this prophecy is only an assertion in a newspaper article, yet 
coming from the president of an important Anthracite Coal Com¬ 
pany, it is entitled to considerable weight and importance. 

In making the following estimate of the original tonnage within 
the Anthracite Coal Field of Pennsylvania, the veins have been 
separated into five divisions: 

1. Lykens Valley Veins, all below the Buck Mountain. 

2. Buck Mountain Vein and its leaders*, up to the 

Skidmore. 

3. Mammoth Vein and its splits and leaders, from, and 

including the Skidmore to the Holmes. 

4. Holmes and Primrose with their leaders. 

5. All above the Primrose. 

The lowest thickness of vein included in the estimate is two and 
one-half feet. 

The several divisions of the field were treated separately and each 
divided into a number of subdivisions with a thickness used for each 
division or group of veins, based upon a general knowledge of the 
field, and reinforced by the data collected by the Geological Survey 
of the State. 

An estimate of the marketable portion of the cubical contents 
of the veins in the ground is as important as the one determining the 
total product in the field. The condition of the anthracite mining 
of Pennsylvania to-day may be compared with that of the virgin 
foi'est’s first attack by the woodman, who cuts down the most choice 
and profitable trees and takes away only the choice log cuts, leaving 
the balance as waste. Later on, when stumpage advances, and the 
choice trees are less plentiful, or located at points more difficult to 
reach, the woodman finds it to his advantage to return to the refused 

*The term, “leader,” in the Anthracite Field, is the name given to a small coal vein, 
usually accompanying an ordinary vein, and located some feet apart, below or above. 


Maximum 

output. 


Method of 
estima'ing. 


Subdivisions 
of the field. 


Percentage of 
marketable 
coal. 


Basis of past 
estimates mis¬ 
leading. 


14 


Cause of low 
percentages in 
■vein product. 


cuts of the first felled trees. It is hardly necessary to state that to 
estimate the output of the forest, based upon the past result, before 
the refused log cuts and the culled timber have been marketed, 
would be misleading, yet this, to a great extent, has been the rule for 
making general estimates of the total marketable product in the 
Anthracite Coal Field. 

There is another feature, which the illustration fails to repre¬ 
sent: the thicker coal veins, yield the lowest percentages of the 
cubical contents, yet, being the most profitable to mine, they have 
yielded the bulk of the tonnage, perhaps eighty-five per cent, up to 
the present time. Some of the exploited large veins in the early 
experience of mining, have yielded perhaps no more than twenty per 
cent, of their tonnage, and in some cases the second exploitation has 
already taken place with considerable immediate increase in the 
vein yield. The conditions of the present day as to the necessity for 
exhaustive mining are not very far advanced from those of forty or 
fifty years ago, and the improvement is not likely to extend rapidly. 
So long as new openings, in accessible large veins are in abundance, 
the efforts of the managers are not likely to be intense in the direction 
of thorough exhaustion, and many of the present and future openings 
will no doubt, be re-exploited in a future day. To attack old work¬ 
ings at the present day carries with it the risk of much greater loss 
in ultimate tonnage than if left to the remote future. The careless 
or inefficient mining of the past and present is due to the super¬ 
abundance of choice veins, yielding less costly and more accessible 
coal. These conditions are but slightly improved at the present, and 
the results can only be a trifle better. The mining of the smaller 
veins, which will necessarily be deferred to the future, will afford 
better opportunities for a more thorough exhaustion of the large 
veins generally. All of the workings, with rare exceptions, will be 
as accessible fifty or a hundred years hence, as at present, and the coal 
will keep. 

A large percentage of the product is wasted on the culm banks 
at the collieries, but not so much to-day as in former years. In the 
early experience all sizes smaller than Chestnut coal were wasted. 
Pea coal, Buckwheat, Numbers 1 and 2, and Eice sizes are now 
being marketed, and they form about twenty-five per cent, of the 
present tonnage. This improvement has largely occurred within the 
last decade, and there is yet a large percentage of excellent fuel 
wasted which the continued improvements will ultimately prevent. 
Much of that which was formerly wasted on the culm banks is to-day 
being recovered and marketed. This coal displaces, to a more or 
less degree, some of the larger sizes, and to that extent, lessens the 


15 


output of a more profitable tonnage, thus injuring in the same measure, 
at the present, the business of some of the larger interests, which con¬ 
trol large aci*eage of coal land and tonnage that will extend in its 
supply into the remote future. The small coal also rivals the bitu¬ 
minous coal, which has now become to the principal anthracite coal 
owners and transporters, a dividend earning factor. The smaller 
estates, which are less willing to waste their product on the culm 
piles, are pressing the smaller sizes on the market, thus compelling 
the larger companies in a measure, to meet the competition, and this 
hastens the improvement in the percentage of yield of the vein. 

Experience has proved that the bituminous coal veins, from two 
and one-half to five feet in thickness, have yielded upwards of ninety 
per cent, as a marketable product. Ninety-five per cent, has been 
observed as the highest, but in estimating, the quantity contained in 
coal fields from seventy-five to eighty per cent, have been used for 
the marketable product. Such percentages are no doubt possible 
Avith a fa\ T orable roof and floor to the \ r eins. 

With a vein thickness of ten feet, or less, the roof may be stated control of roof 
to be under control by means of gobbing and timbering: from ten of veinsbythe 

J ° ° . . miners. 

to eighteen feet it is only partially under control by timbering, and 
above eighteen feet it is practically beyond control by timbering, and 
the miner can only Avin as much of the coal as the condition of the 
roof and floor permits. In the latter cases, and under the present 
efforts and systems of mining the quantity varies Avith the dip and 
various other conditions and is less than forty per cent., but in all 
such cases the unmined coal Avill form sites for future collieries, when 
more profitable sites are less available. The time for such occur¬ 
rences, is likely to be remote, hoAvever. 

There is no system of mining in the large veins by which all of 
the coal can be Avon, excepting one that Avas adopted years ago by 
the French people and Avhich is too expensive for adoption in this 
country at the present time; its chief features consist of filling the 
excaA r ated portions of the \ T ein, made in the day, by rock and earth 
excavated in me day on the surface and placed by night. The 
OAvnership of the minerals being invested in the French Government 
makes such a system practicable in France. 

After the coal has been brought out of the mines there is a loss 
to account for in sizing and preparing for market, which is at present 
more than ten per cent. Passing coal from one railroad car, over 
shutes, into another, has been determined to result in from one to tAvo 
per cent, of “ Avaste,” but this is usually pure coal reduced to dust and 
it is sold in some cases at a reduced cost; it, therefore, to that extent, 
becomes a part of the marketable product. 


16 


Method used 
in determining 
percentage of 
marketable 
tonnage. 


Product of the 
field by regions. 


Allowance for 
faults in the 
veins. 

Estimate placed 
within grasp 
of the layman. 


In estimating the ultimate marketable coal tonnage of the Penn¬ 
sylvania Anthracite Field, it was decided to give eighty per cent, as a 
maximum ultimate yield for the small veins, from two and a half to 
four and a half feet thickness, and forty per cent, for the large 
M ammoth Vein with a varying percentage ranging between these 
extremes, according to thickness, for the intermediate vein thick¬ 
nesses. Each of the main divisions of the field were subdivided 
into a number of smaller divisions with the aggregate resulting'in a 
general average slightly above sixty per cent. Sixty per cent, is used 
in the estimate as the portion of the total tonnage in the ground 
that will be marketed, and this leaves forty per cent, to be considered 
as waste, irrecoverably lost. 

The forty per cent, waste means about 9000 million tons of 
coal, and with nearly all of this tonnage remaining in the field, it 
remains for the future to determine, if the people of Pennsylvania 
at the more exhaustive period of the business, when fuel is scarce 
and supplied from long distances, will not reduce that waste much 
lower than forty per cent.; while the fuel supplied from elsewhere is 
likely to be much inferior to the one they have been accustomed to. 

Since the Mammoth Vein is split, or divided into two or more 
members throughout the greatest portion of the field, the percentages 
of the total product, yielding only forty per cent., is very low. 

The result of the estimate in round numbers is as follows: 


Total Product. 

Schuylkill.9,500,000,000 

Mahanoy and Shaniokin . 5,000,000,000 

Lehigh. 500,000,000 

Wyoming.6,500,000,000 


Marketable Product 
5,700,000,000 
3,000,000,000 
300,000,000 
3,900,000,000 


Total tons, 2,240 lbs . . .21,500,000,000* 12,900,000,000 


In the above estimate extremely liberal allowance has been 
made for faults or wants in the veins. 

To place the estimate within the grasp of the layman and 
student miner, it may be stated that the tonnage of the total product 
within the field is equal to a sheet of coal a little in excess of twenty- 
nine feet, spread over the entire coal vein area, and sixty per cent, 
of this, which is the assumed marketable product, is equal to a sheet 
of coal over the same area, seventeen and a half feet in thickness, 
a little more than half the thickness of the lowest or Buck Mountain 
Vein in portions of the Wyoming Region. 


* Another estimate is in progress of preparation and it will be published at an early day. I 
am informed that the work on it is so far advanced as to enable those in position to know, to 
state that the result will give a total product in the vicinity of twenly-five billion tons. This 
information was received after the above estimate was made. 







17 


The coal formation is crimped or corrugated into basins of the 
form of a boat, and the area of the coal vein is greater in propor¬ 
tion to the steepness of the sides of the basin and its depth, than 
its surface area. The lower veins will average about a fifth greater. 

A vein three feet in thickness of equal area to that of the lower 
coal vein and yielding 100 per cent, marketable coal would give a 
marketable tonnage a trifle greater than 2000 million tons, and a 
vein six feet, a trifle greater than 4000 million tons. 

The area of the field extends only to the outcrops of the coal 
of the lowest workable vein. The Buck Mountain Vein is the lowest 
for a large percentage of the area, and it has a varying thickness 
of from three to thirty feet. The Mammoth Vein, which has a 
thickness ranging from about eight to fifty feet,* with an ordinary 
thickness, of from twenty to forty feet, is next in area to the Buck 
Mountain, and it, with its splits and leaders, will yield more than 
half of the coal of the field. The formation in the deepest portion 
contains from 105 to 150 feet of coal veins. When the above facts 
are borne in mind, it is scarcely necessary to use any professional 
skill in order to determine that an estimate giving a thickness of 
seventeen feet of coal for the entire field is low. 

The question, “ As to what depth can coal be won economi¬ 
cally ” has engrossed considerable thought and discussion among the 
English people for several years, and it is one that should not be 
entirely ignored in the estimates of the field under consideration. 

For several years 3000 feet were held as the greatest possible 
depth for mining coal. It was well known that the rock strata 
inci’eased in temperature at an average of about two degrees in every 
100 to 120 feet. With a rock temperature of fifty degrees at 
the surface, the temperature of the rock at the bottom of the shaft 
8000 feet deep would be about 105 degrees. Later observation has 
shown that the temperature of the air current of the mines in deep 
workings is several degrees lower than that of the strata. The result 
of the investigation and views of the people of Great Britain on the 
subject will be found on page 25. 

It is now considered, and this is based on the increased skill in 
mining, that the improved mechanical appliances and devices for 
ventilating coal cutting and coal hauling, places a depth of 4000 
feet within the range of possibility of mining coal. 

The Pottsville Shafts,f located in the Schuylkill Basin, have a 
depth of 1700 feet. They are the deepest in the anthracite field 
as yet. Observations of the temperature of the rock strata were 


Area of surface 
compared with 
area of veins. 


Estimate of 
marketable 
tonnage 
simplified. 


Maximum 

mining 

depth. 


Deepest shafts 
in the field. 


* The Geological Survey report it at 103 feet at Hazleton. 
I See plate on page S. 

/» 


* 


I 


18 


made, while sinking at intervals of fifty or 100 feet in these shafts, 
and the result agrees closely with that given above. 

The percentage of the anthracite coal of the field under con¬ 
sideration lying below the depth of 4000 feet, is as yet problematic, 
and the quantity is likely to be insignificant. 

After passing a depth from the surface of, say 1500 feet, the 
deeper coals are likely to be found dry and dusty, and in a less firm 
condition, owing to the greater weight of the superincumbent rock. 
The anthracite coal has to pass through the breaker crushers in the 
course of its preparation for market, its value is not likely to be 
impaired in consequence of the greater depth, but rather, in some 
cases and especially with the use of coal cutting machines, will be 
improved. At present the greatest depth reached is less than 
2000 feet, and it is scarcely necessary to exceed this in supplying the 
market for the next forty years. 

Some loss in the total product of the field will result from the 
overlying silt and quicksand ; but fortunately only the Wyoming 
section of the field is likely to suffer from this cause to any extent. 
The Susquehanna and Lackawanna Rivers traverse the field for 
almost its entire length, and together, have covered about one-sixth 
of the coal area with quicksand, gravel and boulders to a depth 
ranging as high as 225 feet. It is a source of cost and 
menacing danger to the miner, and already, (1885,) it has en- 
Losses m vein tombed beyond recovery twentv-eight workmen. The vein loss 

produet. . 

from this source will be confined to the upper veins, lying in the 
centre of the basin. It may be stated that while the presence of the 
rivers will ultimately rob the miner of some of his coal, it has, per¬ 
haps, more than compensated for that loss by supplying him with an 
abundance of fresh water for all his needs for mining, manufactur¬ 
ing and domestic uses—the want of which has been, and is a source 
of great cost in other sections of the field—besides, it has given him 
a most beautiful, fertile and well irrigated valley for his home and 
garden. Mine fires and town sit* - will also claim some of the ton- 
, nage. Ample allowance has been made in the estimate of the 
marketable product for all sources of loss in vein yield. 

EARLY HISTORY. 

The history of the anthracite coal business is practically con¬ 
tained within this century, although few references have been made 
in the preceding one. 

Obadiah Gore, a blacksmith and an early settler in Wyoming, 
in the Northern or \\ yoming Coal Field, is reported to have made 
the first use of anthracite as a fuel, in 17(18. Other blacksmiths 


19 


followed his example, and Judge Fell, of the same valley, began, in 
1788, to make a domestic fuel of it; it having previously been used 
in the manufacture of nails. 

An organization known as the Lehigh Coal Company was formed 
in 1773. It purchased a tract of land at Summit Hill, near Mauch 
Chunk ; but no practical results were had for the first thirty-six years. 

Some anthracite coal was brought to Philadelphia in the year 
1800. Oliver Evans, of Philadelphia, patented a grate in 1800 to 
burn “ Mineral Coal,” and Dr. Thomas James of the same citv, is 
said to be the first to use anthracite as a domestic fuel habitually. 
He began in 1804 and used it continuously for twenty-two years. 

The introduction of anthracite as a domestic fuel does not 
seem to have been successful up to this time, and the fact that it is 
now in common use in this country, within the range of the an¬ 
thracite coal field, is no doubt due to the fact that no soft bituminous 
coal was discovered in the same vicinity, and that the people were 
forced through necessity to exercise their ingenuity in its preparation 
for domestic use. These efforts produced the breakers for crushing 
and sizing, with the stoves and ranges adapted to its consumption. 
It is a noted fact that the AVelsh people, who are among the greatest 
producers and consumers of coal, and who have the bituminous and 
anthracite in abundance, within the same basin, were never driven to 
use anthracite for domestic purposes, as a rule. Bituminous is their 
domestic fuel—they have no breakers for preparing anthracite, nor 
have they stoves and ranges for consuming it, unless it be of recent 
introduction. 

The Provincial Map of 1770 showed coal-pit locations on 
Mahanoy Creek. Mining began in Mahanoy region about 1834, 
and shipments from Slmmokin began about 1839. In 1806, 
William Turnbull sent an ark load of anthracite to the Philadel¬ 
phia Water Works, but want of experience in its use condemned it; 
it doubtless came from Summit Hill. 

The war of 1812 advanced the price of the Virginia and 
British coals and this gave the prospector new hope and energy, and 
he again attacks the anthracite field with greater earnestness, but 
the effect of the war was short in duration. In that year nine horse 
wagon loads were sent from Schuylkill County to Philadelphia by 
George Shoemaker and a Philadelphian. Two of the loads were 
sold and the venture w r as unprofitable to those directly interested. 
Later, this coal was tested in a furnace in Delaware County and 
pronounced a success, notices of which were published in the Phila¬ 
delphia papers. Successful tests followed in other iron works near 
the said city shortly afterwards. 


<« 


Effect of War, 
1812 . ' 


20 


An attempt was made to ship five large boat loads of the Sum¬ 
mit Hill coal to Philadelphia in 1813—influenced, doubtless, by the 
war—two reached their destination and three were wrecked. 

In 1818, the present existing Lehigh Coal and Navigation 
Company was formed and it absorbed the company named above, as 
well also the Lehigh Navigation Company, and from this date be¬ 
came rapid, permanent progress in the anthracite "business. 

In 1820, 365 tons of anthracite were brought to Philadelphia 
at a cost of fourteen dollars a ton. In 1824, 954 L tons were sold in 
the same city. 

From the last-named date begins the history of the various 
canals and railroads connecting the different centres of consumption 
with the various sections of the anthracite coal field. 

The Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, chartered in 1823, 
completed the construction of its canal from the Hudson River to 
Honesdale in 1828, and its gravity road from the canal to the mines 
in the Wyoming Coal Field in the following year. The Wyoming 
Valley is reported to have yielded 7000 tons in 1829. 

Several efforts w T ere made to use anthracite in the manufacture 
of iron in the early history of its introduction as a domestic fuel, and 
premiums are reported as paid for encouragement. Mr. David 
Thomas, with his knowledge of its use in Wales, is entitled to the 
credit of first introducing anthracite in a blast furnace successfully 
in this country, at Catasauqua, in 1840. 

Beginning of The Schuylkill Region coal entered the market as a regular 

permanent su pp]y i n 1822, and gave a tonnage for that year of nearly 1500 

progress in the rsr J ° ° . . . . 

Anthracite tons. The subsequent growth from the three regions is given below: 

business._' __ 


YEAR. 

SCHUYEKIEL. 

lehigh. 

WYOMING. 

TOTAL. 

1830 

89,984 

41,750 

43.000 

174,734 

1840 

49°>59 6 

225,313 

148,470 

864,379 

Tonnage pro- 1850 

1,840,620 

690,456 

827,223 

3,358,899 

gress by regions j 

3,749.632 

1,821,674 

2,941,817 

8,513,123 

with aggregates. 1870 

4,968,157 

3,239,374 

7,974,660 

16,182, 191 

1880 

7,554,742 

4,463,221 

11,419 279 

23,431,242 

1890 

10,867,822 

6,329,648 

18,657,695 

35,855,175 

1891 

12,741,258 

6,381,838 

21,325,240 

40,448,336 


Total product The above figures give the tonnage marketed, and it aggregates 
to 856,316,625 tons. Adding to this the coal consumed at the mines 
and allowing for some imperfect statistics, the grand total will reach 
Time required about 900,000,000 tons for a period of some seventy years, 
the Anthracite Several years would be required to introduce the coal as a new 
commodity, commodity, and to bring the business to a mature standard so that 







21 


its future growth would keep pace only with that of the surrounding 
country forming its field of consumption. Basing this standard 
upon an annual tonnage of 1,000,000 tons, we find that it took 
twenty-one years to attain it; and this practically occurred in the 
year 1841, fifty years ago, and about the time it began to be con¬ 
sumed in blast and other furnaces. The growth of the business for the 
last half century, 1840 to 1891, averaged annually 789,771 tons. 
At present the annual growth is about 1,000,000 tons on an average. 

The decadal increase from 1840 to 1891 is below stated : 


Decade. 

Total Decadal 
Tonnage. 

Per cent, of in¬ 
crease above pre¬ 
ceding decade. 

Increase over 
previous de¬ 
cade. 
Tonnage. 

Annual 

Average 

Tonnage. 


1840 to 1851 

21,893,063 

• 


2,189,306 

Tonnage 

1S50 to 1861 

63,981,677 

192 

42,088,614 

6,398,167 

growth by de- 

i860 to 1871 

114,761,986 

79 

50,780,309 

11,476,198 

cades, and by 

1870 to 1881 

202,968,727 

77 

SS, 206,741 

20,296,873 

years averaged 

1880 to 1891 

327,940,946 

61 

124,972,219 

32,794,095 



DISTRIBUTION OF THE PRODUCT. 

The approximate distribution of the product of the field at the 
present is as follows : 

Pennsylvania, Neiv York and New Jersey . . . . 70 per cent. 

New England States .. . 10 per cent. Market divi- 

Westem States, near and adjacent to the great lakes . 13 per cent. 81ons and p® p 

Southern and far Western States.4 per cent. product. 

Canada.3 per cent. 


100 per cent. 

The above shows that the bulk of the consumption of the an¬ 
thracite is in the immediate vicinity of the coal field. 

The following figures will show that an important change in 
the consumption of anthracite, in the manufacturing of iron, has 
recently been inaugurated, and that it is yet in progress. The same 
figures also show, in a measure, the great progress made in the iron 
business within the anthracite market and in the United States. 

In 1870, 2,233,410 tons of anthracite were consumed in the 
manufacture of iron in the United States, and in 1880, 3,322,498 tons. 

The pig-iron production in the United States is given for three 
census years below : 


7 


Anthracite con¬ 
sumed in the 
manufacture of 
iron. 


For 1870 
For 1880 
For 1890 


2,052,821 tons. 
3,781,021 tons. 
9,579,779 tons. 













/ 


22 

Number of fur- The number of furnaces in the United States decieased fiom 
naces and gain 188(J 1890 H9_f r0 m 681 to 562. The average annual produc- 

tion for each furnace in 1880 was 5552 tons; in 1890, 1 / ,040 tons, 
a gain in furnace yield of 207 per cent. 

The pig-iron production in Pennsylvania, iSew Fork and 2s ew 
Jersey, the principal field of anthracite consumption, is given 


below: 

In 1870 1,921,649 tons. 

In 1880 . 2,401,093 tons. 

In 1890 5,216,591 tons. 


The number of furnaces, in the same States, in 1880, was 346, 
and in 1890, 279, a decrease of seven in the latter year. The 
average production per furnace in 1880 was 6940 tons; in 1890, 
18,697 tons, a gain in furnace yield of 169 per cent. 

The production of pig-iron in the United States for 1880 and 
1890 as to fuel consumed is as follows: 


Kinds of Fuel. 


Tons of Pig-iron in Tons of Pig-iron in 
1880. 1890. 


Kinds of coal 

Anthracite alone 

1,112,735 

323,258 

used in 

Mixed Anthracite and Coke 

713,932 

1,879.098 

furnaces. 

Coke and Bituminous Coal 

1,515,107 

6,7u,974 


Charcoal 

435 -OiS 

655,520 


Castings direct from furnace 

4,229 

9,929 


U. S. Pig-iron Production. Total 

3,781,021 

9,579,779 


In 1880, of the total number of furnaces in the United States, 
229 were anthracite, or anthracite and coke furnaces ; in 1890, 169 
were anthracite, or anthracite and coke furnaces, a decrease of about 
twenty-seven per cent. 

Less Anthracite From the above it is found that the consumption of anthracite 
used in iron i n the manufacture of iron, in 1870, was 13.8 per cent, of the total 
manufacturing. an ^| irac j|- e production of Pennsylvania, and in 1880 it was 14.2 per 
cent. At the latter rate of percentage, the consumption for the 
same purposes in 1890 would amount to 5,091,434 ; but the above 
figures given for 1890, for the iron produced from anthracite alone 
and from mixed anthracite and coke does not assure much, if any, 
in excess of 2,000,000 tons. We thus arrive, approximately, in the 
absence of census figures, not yet prepared, at the decreased con¬ 
sumption in this branch of the anthracite coal market. The de¬ 
crease is, no doubt, destined to continue at a more or less rate into 
the future ; but it is apparent that the effect will be less serious than 












iii the past upon the anthracite business, since the effect of the ton¬ 
nage loss has already spent its force. 

The furnace owner has discovered that, hy the use of the other 
known good, but less refractory or a more rapidly consumed fuel, and 
by an increase in the temperature lie is able to produce better re¬ 
sults ; and this, as is shown by the above figures, he has accom¬ 
plished to a very satisfactory degree during the last decade, having 
increased the producing furnace capacity more than 200 per cent. 

While this remarkably good result has been achieved by the fur¬ 
nace-man, a loss has been caused in the anthracite consumption, and 
a gain to the bituminous and coke consumption, and this loss has not 
only occurred in the coke and bituminous producing fields, hut it 
has extended into the iron manufacturing institutions located in the 
anthracite coal field. 

The results, however, in the iron manufacturing divisions of the 
anthracite market have been, perhaps, fully compensated by an im¬ 
provement in another single division in the same market, to wit: 

In 1882, the Western States took 2,2.31,107 tons, and in 1889, western 
4,996,420 tons, an increase of 2,783,313 tons, or 125 per cent, in Market s rowin s 
seven years. The increase of tonnage is only a little below the 
above estimated deficiency in the iron manufacturing division. The 
western division of the market is comparatively new ; the settlements 
are quite young, the manufacturing institutions are in the early 
stages of their existence and the population is rapidly growing: it is 
therefore not unlikely that this branch will in the future attain a 
high percentage as a domestic fuel. The progress, however, will be 
strenuously opposed by the excellent domestic fuel of a number of the 
States entered. 

The bituminous of western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and Anthracite 
West Virginia are the greatest rivals to the anthracite in Penn¬ 
sylvania, New York, New Jersey and the New England States. 

Were it not for the seventy-five cents tariff, Canada would lend strong- 
reinforcement in the New England as well as in some of the other near 
States. The contest between them has been in progress for many 
years: the comparative merits of the different coals for the different 
purposes used are to-day well understood, and in a measure appre- No new fie]dg 
ciated, and the geology of the country tributary to the Atlantic Sea tode7eio P to 
Board is sufficiently developed to warrant the statement that there is 1,lterfere - 
no new coal field to be opened that can affect these markets, therefore 
the loss or gain in the consumption of anthracite will depend upon 
the energy and skill exercised in marketing and the rates of freight 
charged by the different companies from the various competitive 
fields, with the growth of manufacturing institutions and population. 


:24 


Percentages of 
sizes of coal 
produced. 


The increase in the anthracite output in the last decade, 1880- 
1890, is, as already stated, from 23,438,242 tons to 35,855,175 tons 
12,416,933 tons, or fifty-two and nine-tenths per cent. 


All sizes below Chestnut, 


tonnage for the 
as follows: 

years 1880 


TONS. 

, 1890, 72%, . 

24,815,726 

1880, 85%, . 

19,912,506 

i 1890, 24.6%, . 

4,903,220 

1890, 38%, . 

11,039,449 

1880, 15%, . 

3,526,185 

1890, 213.1%, 

7,513,264 


The above figures show approximately that the larger sizes of 
coal only increased 26.6 per cent., which percentage is the proper 

comery C 3put measure of the growth of the colIier .Y output, and that the smaller 
' sizes increased 213.1 per cent. This increase in the smaller sizes 
represents a saving in the year’s output of coal formerly wasted on 
the culm banks, and the recovery of some of that which had been 
wasted in former years. The smaller sizes are chiefly used for steam 
purposes in competition with the bituminous coal. 

The ordinary draft used for the consumption of domestic 
coal is inadequate for the smaller sizes of the anthracite coal to 
produce the necessary heat. The grates are also adapted, both as to 
heating surface and construction, to the larger sizes. An improve¬ 
ment in these conditions would instantly expand the market for 
the smaller sizes; but, of course, at the cost of reducing the 
market for the larger sizes. 1 his would seem to be the proper 
direction to look to for an improved market for the smaller 
sizes wasted now and in the past for the want of a market. 
The conversion of culm and small coal into patent fuel is un¬ 
avoidably attended, to a prohibitory extent, with cost for labor and 
material. 

The anthracite is daily becoming a greater favorite as a 
domestic fuel; it is, no doubt, the best known for that purpose. It is 
clean to handle, and it contains, as already stated, the greater 
amount of fuel constituents; it is almost free from the objectionable 
black smoke so much complained of by the people, and it has none 
<>f the unpleasant odors usually accompanying the consuming of 
some of the varieties of bituminous 





DURATION AND PROGRESS OF THE PENN¬ 
SYLVANIA ANTHRACITE BUSINESS. 

The past experience in the anthracite business is undoubtedly a 
reliable criterion as to the future regarding the progress of its 
market. Slight variations can be expected in the percentages con¬ 
sumed in the divisions of the market from time to time, but there is 
no apparent prospect for any great or extraordinary increase in any 
of the divisions, excepting, perhaps, the Western States, near the 
Lakes. An export business is also within the range of possibilities, 
and it would seem that this is the only uncanvassed held open, unless 
we add to it the uncanvassed export iron business, both of which 
hear on the anthracite consumption. The percentage of the smaller 
sizes of coal will go on increasing until the present waste is reduced 
to a minimum, but policy may retard its progress for a time. 

The duration of the progress in the anthracite business is a 
matter that has already been discussed—one published answer has 
been given to it—and it has already been referred to. It is by no 
means a new question; it has been pondered over in other coal fields 
and in one instance with success. Several elements of uncertainty 
enter the solution of the answer, making it quite difficult to arrive at 
anything but an approximation, and with the vast tonnage remain¬ 
ing it would seem almost unnecessary to attempt an answer at the 
present time, excepting for scientific purposes* 

The principal factors in the problem are :— 

First.—The quantity of coal contained in the field and the 
portion that can be marketed. 

Second.—The maximum producing capacity of the field. 
Third.—The capacity of the market in its future growth 
and expansion. 

The tonnage of marketable coal within the field has already 
been discussed in former pages, and the amount given in round num¬ 
bers, at 12,000 million tons. This tonnage is about equal to a sheet 

* The people of Great Britain manifested some anxiety about the duration of the coal sup¬ 
ply in their country several decades ago, and a Dumber of estimates have been made. In 1870 a 
Royal Commission was appointed by the Government to examine and report on the subject. 
The maximum depth from which coal could be mined was taken at 4000 feet. The 
Commissioners reported 48,868 million tons. This tonnage will last at the rate of 200 million 
tons annually, 734 years,—say 600 years, allowing for small unminable veins. Between the 
depth of 4000 and 10,000 feet the tonnage is estimated at 48,465 millions ; at this point the heat 
is estimated to be above that of the ability of man to withstand. 

The improvement made in Mine Ventilation enabled the Commissioners to increase the pre¬ 
viously accepted ultimate mining depth from 3000 to about 4000 feet. 

The coal exportation from Great Britain at present is approaching 40,000,000 tons annu¬ 
ally, which is proof of the practically unlimited supply as far as the care of the people of the 
present generarion is concerned for the remote future. 


The past a 
guide for the 
future. 


Duration of 
the progress in 
the Anthracite 
business. 


Factors in the 
problem. 


Duration of 
coal business 
and tonnage 
progress, Great 
Britain. 


Deep mining. 


26 


Number of 
breakers, and 
their capacity. 


Various capa¬ 
cities of 
breakers. 


Theoretical 
capacity of 
breakers. 


Tendency to 
increase 
breaker 
capacity. 


Life of a 
colliery. 


Acres occupied 
by colliery. 


Attacking 
small veins. 


of coal a trifle less than five and a-half yards in thickness over the 
entire coal vein area, as already stated. 

The maximum producing capacity of the field, depends upon 
the number and capacity of collieries that can be economically 
located within its geological limits. There are at present* about 
360 breakers witnin the anthracite field, and each breaker ordinarily 
represents one colliery, although occasionally a breaker will receive 
its coal from several mine openings. The production of 1891 gives 
for the 360 breakers, an average breaker yield, of 112,300 tons. 
The average surface acreage, of coal, occupied by each breaker, is 
867 acres. 

The highest annual output from any one breaker, in any one year 
is 622,000 tons. The greatest tonnage from any one breaker, depend¬ 
ing upon one mine opening, is 530,000 tons. Eight of the present 
breakers produce from 400,000 to 622,000 tons, seven from 300,000 
to 400,000 tons, and thirty-two, from 200,000 to 300,000. 

To produce the output of 1891, it would require, of the first- 
class breakers, say, of a capacity of 500,000 tons,—eighty-one; of a 
capacity of 400,000 tons,—101, and of a capacity of 300,000 tons, 
135. 

In the interest of economy the growing tendency is to increase 
the capacity of the collieries. The ideal capacity at the present 
time would seem to be from 300,000 to 400,000 tons. If the present 
average capacity,—112,300 tons, be brought up to 224,600 tons the 
present number of collieries would give an annual output of nearly 
81,000,000 tons; but at 350,000 tons, it would be 126,000,000. 

Few collieries within the annals of the history of this business 
have aggregated a tonnage of 3,000,000. If, for illustration, the 
life of a colliery be assumed at thirty years, its tonnage would aggre¬ 
gate, at the present average rate of breaker output, to 3,359,000 
tons, and it would require 3562 such collieries to exhaust the remain¬ 
ing tonnage, and to increase the average annual output to 224,600, for 
the same length of life it would require 1781 such collieries. Each of 
the former class of collieries would exhaust eighty-seven and one- 
third acres of the surface coal area, and of the latter 174if acres of 
the average yield. Thei’e are other ways to look at this proposition, 
and all are equally promising, and it may be stated, that if the 
mettle of the present Pennsylvanian does not deteriorate in his grand 
and great-grandsons, it is not probable that the market will lack in 
its supply though the demand exceed 150,000,000 a year. 

The smaller coal veins have already been attacked in some sec¬ 
tions of the field by small owners, who have exhausted their larger 


* 1889 


27 


veins and are driven without choice to the smaller, rather than per¬ 
mit their mining plants decay into a loss. Such cases are likely 
to occur in the future, but they will be exceptions to the general rule, 
until a remote period. The smaller veins, which extend throughout 
the entire field, will be left unmined until the larger veins are gen¬ 
erally exhausted, or have failed to produce the required output, and 
this fact tends to, and we may say, practically assures a large area of 
coal veins, up to the remotest period of the business; thus allowing 
large acreage for colliery territory. 

A large number of collieries to-day are producing less than Low shipping 
100,000 tons, and some of them are up to the maximum producing ro,hei,es - 
capacity of the vein or veins, within their special economic limits; a 
very large majority of them, however, are held down in their produc¬ 
tion, for causes other than want of coal, and many of the sites can 
be brought up to the highest capacity. Low shipping collieries will 
be continued to the end of the business in greater or less numbers, 
but the modern and improved colliery will go on advancing and 
a very much smaller number will be required than is now in 
use for a much larger output. Were it not for the desire to 
avoid losses resulting from the abandonment of the improvements 
and the dependent towns, of some of the old, but yet active min¬ 
ing institutions, the progress of the modern colliery would be more 
rapid. 

In order to have an idea of what the maximum output of the Possible maxi¬ 
field may be, it will be assumed that it is produced by 500 collieries, 

Giving to each colliery a life of thirty years, and an aggregate life field, 

tonnage of 3,359,000 tons, the grand total for the 500 collieries 
would amount to 1,679,500,000 tons, for the thirty years. The output 
of the several divisions of the collieries has already been given, and 
it shows that 500 collieries have a capacity of producing easily 
from 100,000,000 to 160,000,000 tons annually. In the above we 
have assumed that the maximum output has been attained by the 500 
collieries and that these collieries are then beginning the exhaustion 
of their life tonnages at the apex of the business which is the beginning 
of the decadent period. But in place of giving the amount due to the 
500 collieries during their existence, we will increase it to 3,000,- 
000,000 tons. This amount is more than three times the total output 
of the field for the last seventy years, and if it be deducted out of the 
total tonnage of marketable coal remaining in the ground it will 
leave 9,000,000,000 tons as a quantity that can be delivered to the 
market in such amounts as it will require every year.. The amount 
used can be varied to produce other results, but they will, no doubt, 
serve as given for the necessary illustration. 


No visible 
changes in 
market. 


Anthracite ca¬ 
pable of meet¬ 
ing its rivals, 
and consumers 
will continue 
to want it. 


Coal output of 
the world. 


* 


28 

ANTHRACITE MARKET. 

The capacity of the market in its future growth and expansion 
is foreshadowed by its past history, which lias already been given in 
former pages. 

There is no prospect, and scarcely any possibility under 
ordinary conditions for any sudden change either in increase or 
decrease in the growth of any of the branches of the market, and 
there is no new division at present visible that is possible of develop¬ 
ment unless it be, as already referred to, the export division. Some 
of the present branches are capable of expansion. 

The discovery of natural gas some years ago carried with it 
serious results to the consumption of bituminous coal and coke in 
some of the Eastern States; but it does not seem to have produced 
any reduction in the consumption of anthracite. 

The Pochohontas Coal Field when first developed, some ten or 
twelve years ago, created a disturbance in the Atlantic Coast Coal 
Market by very sharp competition and low figures, but it had little 
or no effect upon the anthracite trade. 

The introduction of electricity, which is progressing with rapid 
strides, is tending to multiply power and is thus lending aid to the 
consumption of coal, anthracite included. 

The anthracite coal has already withstood severe tests with its 
rivals and especially within the last decade, and it is not probable 
that it will be called upon to meet as severe tests in the future and 
it shows a strong growth. The people have been trained to consume 
it and there is no visible reason why they ’ should not continue 
to want it in growing quantities, proportionate to the increase in 
population and manufacturing institutions, and the development 
and extension of railroads. These States would seem to be 
capable of centuries of growth in each of the departments named 
if compared with other sections of the world not better equipped 
with the necessary elements to make progressive and prosperous 
countries. 

Ninety six per cent, of the present coal output of the world is 
produced by six nations, to wit: Great Britain,* United States, 
Germany, France, Belgium and Austria. 

Great Britain produced thirty-seven per cent, of this tonnage; 
the United States twenty-nine per cent.; Germany, eighteen per cent., 
and the Pennsylvania Anthracite Coal Field eight and one-half 
per cent. 

*Tlie tonnage mined by Great Britain in the three centuries prior to 1800 is reported at 
850,000,000 tons, and for the present century up to 1800, 10 151,037,778 tons, making a total of 
11,001,637,778 tons. 


The aggregate output for the passing half century for the six Percentages 
countries is approximately 11,000 million tons, and that of the " u ( ^^ n [' y 
world perhaps 1000 million tons more. Great Britain supplied, of the nations, 
aggregate for the six countries, about fifty per cent.; the United 
States, twenty per cent.; Germany, sixteen per cent., and the Penn¬ 
sylvania Anthracite Field, nine per cent. 

The active coal mining period of the world is represented by this Active coal 
last half century ; it began with the practical introduction into general in ' n "^ tl ^ ri0<1 
use of steam power, steam ships and of railroad construction, it was near world, 

the dawn of modern progress, back of this, the tonnage is meagre and 
comparatively insignificant, yet spreading over several centuries. 

Fifty years ago the combined annual tonnage of the six nations Gross tonnage 
was less than 50,000,000 tons. At present it is about 528,000,000. ° f f th « w ® rM 
The growth for the said period has been at the average rate of half century, 
9,500,000 tons annually; during the last decade it averaged an with its ae, '* v 
annual increase of 14,000,000 tons, and in the decade immediately a I ’ r0 " ,r, ! "' 
preceding 10,750,000 tons. The percentages of growth for the fifty 
years, compounded, is 4.67 per cent. 

The growth of the United States coal business for the last fifty 
years was at the rate of 2,500,000 tons annually; for the last decade 
it was 6,200,000 annually, and the decade preceding 3,400,000 tons. 

The anthracite coal business of Pennsylvania grew in the last Growth of th( , 
half century from less than 1,000,000 tons a year to 40,000,000, and Pe,ina - Anth - 
the annual output in the last decade advanced from 23,500,000 tons to r ‘ w ltc 
36 000,000 tons, and that of the adjoining preceding decade from percentages. 
16,000,000 to 23,500,000. For the fifty years the annual output 
grew at the rate of 7.7 per cent., compounded. For the same period 
the United States coal business advanced at the rate of 8.6 percent., 
compounded. Tabular Statement “ A ” on next page gives the com¬ 
parative growth for all of the countries named for different periods 
during the last five decades. 


The following figures show more strikingly the comparative 
growth and they have been extended into last year, with some of the 
figures that were wanting approximated : 


Great Britain, 

annual coal output . . . 

1 S 40 . Tons. 

1890 . Tons. 
186,000,000 

Germany, 

( < 

* i 

11 

. . . 2,000,000 

81,000,000 

Belgium, 

( i 

t i 

11 


20,000,000 

France, 

it 

t t 

i i 

. . . 3,000,000 

26,000,000 

Austria, 

i ( 

i i 

a 

. . . 500,000 

24,000,000 

United States, 

ii 

i i 

a 


130,000,000 

Penna. A nth., 


a 

i t 

. . . 1,000,000 

41,000,000 

Total . . 





508,000,000 

Other nations 





20,000,000 

Output of the world . 




528,000,000 


Growth of the 
world’s ton¬ 
nage, fifty 
years, by 
nations. 













STATEMENT A. ’—Coal Production. Growth in different Periods, for the extreme Dates gi 



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31 


The world’s coal output for 

fifty years, 12,000,000,000 
Great Britain’s coal output for fifty years . . . 

Germany’s coal output for fifty years. 

France’s coal output for fifty years. 

Belgium’s coal output for fifty years. 

Austria’s coal output for fifty years. 

United States’s coal output for last fifty years . . 

Pennsylvania anthracite output for last fifty years 


Tons. 


World’s aggre¬ 


gate tonnage 


5,050,000,000 

1,620,000,000 

580,000,000 

560,000,000 

380,000,000 

2,000,000,000 

784,000,000 


by nations, 
fifty years. 


Other countries 


10,974,000,000 

1,000,000,000 


11,974,000,000 


The above historical figures cover so broad an area of territory 
and so long a period of time, as to establish beyond a doubt, if such 
be necessary, the character of the growth and permanency of the 
coal business, and this is not without some importance in the forma¬ 
tion of an estimate of large tonnages, extending so remotely into the Conclusions, 
future. So rapid a progress running up to so great and colossal 
proportions cannot extend without limit into the future, although it 
may proceed in its course even at an increased ratio for centuries, the 
end will come ; but that end is too remote for contemplation in the 
question under consideration. 

It has already been assumed, from the foregoihg estimate, and Estimate of 
given above, that the anthracite coal field of Pennsylvania, will yield racite tonnage 
about 9,000,000,000 tons before it has reached its maximum output, 
and this tonnage is estimated to be required by the market as follows: 

The first one-third in forty-four years, 1935, and the other two- 
thirds in forty-five more years, 1980. The first period is estimated 
to end with a tonnage of an annual output of 100,000,000 tons. An 
average tonnage of 280,000 tons for each of the present 360 breakers, 
will yield 100,000,000 tons; or say a smaller tonnage with a greater 
number of breakers. The improvement or growth in the annual 
output from the present 40,450,000 tons to the 100,000,000 tons will Future progress 
be at the rate of two per cent, compounded as against 7.7 per cent, for' Wlth 

the past fifty years; 6.1 per cent, for the past forty years; 4.9 per 
cent, for the past thirty years; 4.1 per cent, for the past twenty 
years, and 4.4 per cent, for the past ten years. The improvement in 
the annual output to exhaust the other two-thirds in the period 
stated, will be at the rate of about one per cent. 

The balance of the tonnage remaining in the field will be 
exhausted more slowly, and it may extend over a century or more. 





32 


While it is not likely that any of the preceding figures will be 
exactly realized, they are no doubt close enough to show the capa¬ 
bilities and the present possibilities of the Anthracite Coal Business 
of Pennsylvania as to tonnage and output. To presume that the 
Anthracite Coal Business will advance less rapidly than the 
figures indicate, is to presume that some new rival or antagonist to 
the business is to appear—which is as yet invisible—or that the 
general progress of the business of the country is to move at a much 
slower pace than that shown by the figures, representing practically 
the world’s coal business, embracing the most important of the 
European countries for the past fifty years. 

The progress of large enterprises at present are influenced by 
the commercial progress of the enlightened world, the lines of the 
former limits are being erased by the more common intercourse, and 
the world is practically becoming a general mart, both as to product 
and labor. 

The business progress of the United States compares favorably 
with the progress of that of the most prosperous of the countries 
referred to, and its unlimited resources, with the energy and 
skill of its people, are sufficient warrant for the statement that the 
future business of the anthracite coal field will be no less progressive 
than that of the past, in which case the estimates given as to pro¬ 
gress will be greatly exceeded, and there can be no doubt but that 
future computers of the tonnage will greatly exceed ,the estimate 
given in the preceding pages when the further development of the 
field will warrant it. 

COLLIERY IMPROVEMENTS , EQUIPMENTS , 
MINE OPENINGS AND CUT COAL. 

To produce the present forty and a-half million tons output, it 
requires a stupendous outlay of money, for machinery, breakers, 
tunnels, shafts, slopes, mine openings for various purposes, railroad 
tracks, mules, horses, etc., which are usually classed as Colliery 
Plants, or Improvements, Personal Property, Dead Work, Cut 
Coal, etc. 

Formerly, such investments were made by the lessees almost 
exclusively; but the lessor became the ultimate owner invariably, 
and frequently unwillingly, either through judicial settlements or by 
virtue of limitation of contracts. 

At present few collieries are possessed by individual owners and 
lessees, and very few lessees own colliery plants. 

The bulk of the outlay is in breakers and their machinery, hoist¬ 
ing, pumping and ventilating machinery, and in the sections of the 


field where the coal formation lies on a high degree of inclination there 
is quite an outlay necessary in the stock of cut coal in the mines, 
and the same sections also yield the largest amount of refuse at the southern and 
breakers, necessitating a larger and more costly breaker, to produce '^^gn^ter 
an equal output; on this account the Southern and Western Middle breaker capa- 
Basins Collieries have a greater colliery outlay per ton output than c,t ( ^ ( ' it to " 
those of the other basins. This rule, however, is not without some ex¬ 
ceptions. 

To approximate the valuation of the colliery outlay of the Value per ton 
field published figures covering a period of ten years, and embracing out|lut of im " 

® provements, 

an approach to 140,000,000 tons output,* have been used. The etc. 
tonnage represents forty per cent, of the entire output of the field 
for the same period, and it is well distributed throughout the North¬ 
ern and Southern Divisions. For the ten years the average esti¬ 
mated colliery outlay from these figures was $1.50 per ton output,— 
for the first five years it was $1.70, and for the second, $1.34—show¬ 
ing a decrease of twenty-one per cent, in the last five years as 
compared with the first. Some of the figures are extremely high, 
approaching $2.50 in the first five years, and for the same property 
nearly $2.60 in the second five. 

Using the above resulting figures ($1.50) for the entire field’ S Amount of ex- 
production the ten years’ out-put—340,000,000 tons—was produced pemUtures iQ 

1 , , r colliery iw- 

by a colliery outlay, of an annual average value, of $51,000,000,f provements. 
and for the tonnage of the first five years, 155.4 millions, $52,830,- 
000, and for the last five years’ output, 164.5 millions, $49,550,000, 
and for the last year’s output, using the $1.50 per ton $60,672,000. 

Every year’s output increases the depth from which the coal increased depth 
has to be won, and this calls for deeper mine openings, greater steam- of miuing ani1 

, , . 1 r . ® ° cost per ton. 

power, longer tracks and longer and stronger wire ropes, etc., yet 
the colliery outlay has been decreasing per ton output, and the 
figures as to this phase can be accepted as being near the actual 
result. The favorable result is to be accounted for by the increased 
output per colliery. The machinery and structures, mules and cars 
and mine openings, in fact all of the mining outfit are made to 
perform greater service, and to produce better economic results. 

The mine drainage of the field in the future is a problem not Mine drainage, 
without considerable interest in this connection. The quantity of 
water to be drained out of some of the collieries during the wet 
seasons is enormous, approaching, perhaps exceeding, 10,000 tons in 
twenty-four hours, and if the output is low at such an operation, the 

* Compiled from the State and United States Government Reports, from Financial publica¬ 
tion, and from the published reports of several of the companies interested. 

f The amount for the Census of 1889 was $50,844,265 for buildings, tools, fixtures; imple¬ 
ments, live stock, machinery and supplies—$1.36 per ton output. 


c 



34 


Cost per ton 
for drainage. 


Mining under 
river. 


Pumping Plant. 


Mine water 
charged with 
acids. 


average drainage cost will be necessarily high. Such unfavorable 
conditions occur generally when the operation is a centre of drainage 
for a large area. The best measure of the importance of the ques¬ 
tion is in the average cost per ton which it entails,' and which in 
the absence of more exact figures, may be taken at four to six cents 
a ton. The measures yield but little water below a depth of from 
200 to 250 feet, and if it were only possible to retain it at that depth 
the problem would be very much more simple ; this, however, has not 
been successfully done so far. The water finds its way down to the 
lower depth in brief periods after the openings are made. The bulk 
of the flood water comes from the surface, and as the depth increases 
from which it has to be elevated, greater efforts are being made to 
perfect the surface drainage so as to arrest its entrance into the work¬ 
ings, and as this is improved less water will enter the mines, and the 
quantity now handled per ton will be materially lessened in the 
future for the same openings. The mines underlying a river, such as 
those in the Wyoming field, are liable at any time to be visited by 
large influxes from rents or crevasses under the river. The mining 
business has not yet advanced far enough to make necessary the con¬ 
centration of pumping for large areas as it is in Great Britain. 
Large pumping stations are there established in accordance with 
recently made laws, by Government direction, and each operator 
affected is taxed the average cost per ton output, for the cost of 
establishing and maintaining such pumping stations, and this 
amounts to about four or five cents a ton product. 

The drainage problem analyzed is about as follows : 

First.— Improvements, which mean boilers, pumping 
engines, steam and column pipes, sumps or under¬ 
ground reservoirs, etc. 

Second.—Fuel. 

Third.—Feed water. 

Fou rth .—Labor. 

Regarding the first it .may be stated that improvements are 
always in progress in the direction of economy, tending to reduce 
the cost of the plant as well as to decrease the cost of maintenance. 
When the mine water is charged strongly with sulphuric acid the 
pumping machinery suffers rapid corrosion of some of the parts, 
which makes the annual repair charges high. As to the second 
element, fuel, we may state that while it is an important factor in 
the power, it being taken from the waste fuel which is thrown away 
on the culm banks, it has at the present time but little or no bearing 
on the cost of drainage in the anthracite field. Third, feed water is 
a necessity for all steam purposes beside that used for pumping 


at the mines, and the proportional cost chargeable to pumping is 
rarely of much importance. The fourth, labor does not usually 
increase in proportion to quantity, as the same engineer employed to 
run a small pump, will run at the same or a slight advance cost, a 
large one. The cost of maintenance, however, will increase. 

It is very evident that the cost of pumping in the aggregate will Future cost of 
increase with the greater depth and greater developed areas, to a <haniaue ' 
certain extent; but if we take into consideration the increased ton¬ 
nage that the future will demand from these areas, the prospect for 
the concentration of pumping, with the progress in the mining skill and 
plant improvement, the average cost per ton for mine drainage for 
the future will have a promising aspect; it may advance at some 
points but generally it promises not to go above what it is until the 
remote future if at all. 

The prospect for greater improvements in the direction of mine Differences 
economies are not unfavorable. There is a slight difference between the between 
bituminous and anthracite mines, and the machines invented for coal Anthracite 
cutting and coal hauling in the mines were produced to meet the mines, 
necessities of the bituminous mines. The haulage system has 
been adapted to the anthracite business, but no coal cutting ma¬ 
chines have yet been invented for, or adapted to the anthracite field. 

The necessity for such inventions will become more pressing as the 

larger veins become less plentiful, and coal hauling, which is 

now in its infancy in the field, will become more general. From 

$20,000,000 to $25,000,000 are expended at the present time annually 

for coal cutting and coal hauling; how much of this can be saved coal cutting 

by the more general application of machinery remains for the future an ' , “ ml 7" 

J ° 1 r J t ground haulage, 

to develop ; the amount will go on advancing with the increased ton¬ 
nage, and the higher the wages paid the greater will be the saving by 
the application of machinery. All of these conditions are favorable 
to a reduction in the cost of mining in the future, and it is reasonable to Future pros- 
expect that such results will be realized; otherwise it would be out 1 ' ' 

of harmony with the experience of other coal fields. The-necessitv favorable, 
for mining the smaller veins in Europe, with perhaps some sharper 
competition, was the mother of the mechanical inventions in coal 
mining. The same mother will appear in the anthracite field of 
Pennsylvania later on. 

The average amount per ton output representing the value of value per ton 
the collieries is $1.50, as shown by figures produced from two reliable 
sources; but, for example, and to be liberal, $1.75 will be used for the of improve- 
present purpose. This based upon last year's output will aggregate 
in round numbers, to, say, $70,000,000. Now' this $70,000,000 is 
taken as the amount invested bv the operator on the land at the 


Depreciation of 
colliery irn 
provements. 


Life of a 
colliery. 


Value of plant 
and 

depreciation. 


First coal land 
purchased in 
field. 


State of Penna. 
never sold coal 
lands. 


William Penn’s 
method of buy • 
ing lands, and 
his payments. 


present time, and independent of the value of the land, to produce 
the present output, this amount at six per cent, interest gives $4,200,- 
000, and at four per cent. $2,800,000. This class of property deterior¬ 
ates and perishes to a greater extent than improvements generally; 
many of the parts are under constant repairs and renewals. After 
the colliery construction is completed and set in full operation, only 
extraordinary charges are made to the improvement account. 

Assuming the life of a colliery plant and outfit to be twenty 
years, the annual loss on this account would be one-twentieth of 
seventy millions—$3,500,000—this is equal to five per cent, interest 
on the $70,000,000. Adding the interest to the previously mentioned 
six per cent, will make eleven per cent., or a total amount of 
$7,700,000, an average of nineteen cents per ton on the last yeai’s 
tonnage. Giving the colliery a life of fifteen years, the average per 
ton would be 21.9 cents; for twenty-five years it would be 17.3 
cents, and for thirty years 16.1 cents. It would be safe to say that 
this item in the cost of mining will range below twenty cents a ton 
on the annual output. 

VALUE OF COAL LANDS. 

The first purchase of any portion of the Pennsylvania Anthra¬ 
cite Coal Field, as coal land recorded, is that made by the Lehigh 
Coal Company in 1773; it was a tract purchased from Jacob 
Weiss at Summit Hill. Later it is reported that the same com¬ 
pany owned 10,000 acres, which must necessarily include the meat 
and bone. 

The State of Pennsylvania, it is stated, never sold coal lands, 
no distinction has been made between its coal and other lands. In 
the latter part of the last century, and in the early part of this, the 
proprietors and the State sold the vacant land at from twenty-six and 
two-third cents to fifty-three and one-third cents an acre. Some of 
the lands have been sold as low as six and two-thirds cents an acre. 
Six townships in Luzerne County, part of the anthracite coal field, 
were sold for prices per acre, fixed by the Commissioners, at $2.00 
for first-class, $1.20 second-class, fifty cents third, and eight and one- 
quarter cents fourth class. 

Such prices for land may perhaps have been excelled in 1685 
by Thomas Holme, the President of the Council, in the absence of 
William Penn, in his negotiations with the Tangoras and other 
Indians, under the historic Elm Tree, when he purchased the Indians’ 
relinquishment of the land from near the Delaware River to the 
Susquehanna River. The distance west from the vicinity of Phila¬ 
delphia, was to be determined by a man’s two days’walk, usually 


known as “ the Indian walk,” and the payments were made in axes, 
knives, guns, beads, red lead, bar lead, etc., perhaps as many in the 
aggregate as would fill a couple of good size packing cases. 

The present State prices per acre for lands are twenty-six and 
two-third cents, twenty cents, thirteen and one-third cents and six and 
two-thirds cents in different sections of the State. The Government 
price in the Western States for coal lands is $10.00 an acre outside 
and $20.00 an acre inside of-a radius of fifteen miles from a railroad 

There never has, therefore, been a standard for the price of the 
Pennsylvania anthracite coalfield, and we may add that there is No standard 
to-day scarcely any necessity for such a standard price, since the coal l nc h ,°^ coal 
land has almost exclusively passed into the hands of those who need 
it and will not sell it; the land is out of the market and there is 
scarcely any possibility for it ever returning. 

Much of the land is now held in reserve like the gold in the 
Government treasury, earning no interest, yet not exempt from taxes. Coal lauds 
It is kept there for the purpose of meeting a future demand. It is 
an investment indirectly in the interest of the coal business, but 
directly in the interest of freight for the railroad companies. Such 
a vast storage of freight, the output from which can be increased or 
decreased almost at will and located so conveniently to the centre of 
the commercial progress and population, is to be equalled only in rare 
cases. 

To attempt to place a valuation upon an estate containing a large 
tonnage that will extend into the remote future in its exhaustion, and 
basing it upon the present earnings of the investment in the coal 
land by any rule or method, carries with it the liability of placing 
an extreme high or an extreme low valuation upon the same coal vein 
in a like condition in different properties, for no other reason than that 
there is an imaginary line or fence on the surface separating the 
properties ; or it may place a high valuation on an inferior property, 
and a low on a superior. Coal land is like any other real estate 
property, it is worth what it can be purchased for. But if a block 
of coal land is purchased, like a block of specie, to be stowed away, 
or reserved for some future day, it is of no less value after such 
purchase than before, nor does the change of ownership alter the 
comparative value compared with that of its neighbor. 

A large area of the coal field under consideration changed change in 
ownership in the decade next succeeding the war, owing, in some °ooanands° 
degree at least, to the high prices realized for coal on account of the 
war, and on account also of the consolidation of railroads, canals and 
coal interests resulting about the same time. Sales of coal lands 
about this period realized from $250 to $600 an acre; perhaps $800 


Amount paiil 
for land with 
present cost. 


Yield per acre. 


Coal leases and 
royalties. 


Value of land 
based upon 
royalty. 


for choice tracts. These figures prevailed throughout the different 
basins. The matter of coal tonnage contained in the ground wag 
then of less importance than it became later. Some of the proper¬ 
ties purchased at that time are yet lying dormant, and the money 
invested was generally borrowed at from six to seven per cent, 
interest. One hundred dollars at six per cent, interest for twenty-five 
years, amounts to $250, and at seven per cent., to $275 ; at the same 
rate of interest, compounded, the amounts would be respectively, 
$429.19 and $542.74. From these figures it is quite evident that 
much of the coal land has cost the present owners amounts ranging 
from say $000 to $2000 and upwards an acre, and it is safe to say 
that a considerable percentage of it could not be purchased to-day for 
the highest amount. It is known, however, that several small lots 
and tracts in an undesirable part of the field have changed owner¬ 
ship within recent years at extremely low figures. 

The average acre of the field contains, according to the above 
estimate, 38,500 tons of marketable coal. Some of the coal veins are 
worth more than others, and the same vein in one locality is of 
greater value than in another. 

Leases on coal properties, two or three decades ago, were made 
at a royalty of from twenty to thirty cents a ton for the larger sizes 
of coal, with no charge for the smaller sizes. Large estates are 
quoted to have been leased at still lower figures, with the term per¬ 
petual. The royalty has been advancing and the leases made within 
recent years, charge from forty-live to fifty cents; in rare cases, per¬ 
haps sixty for the larger sizes ; fifteen cents, ten cents and five cents 
for the smaller, resulting in an average price of from thirty to thirty- 
five cents. Leases at thirty-five cents a ton would find ready takers 
to-day for any number. 

Assuming thirty cents to be the land owners’ estimate of the 
present value of the coal, some idea may be had as to the value of 
the total tonnage within the field. The output for 1891 amounted 
to 40,448,400 tons, which at thirty cents a ton, is $12,134,500. The 
tonnage exhaustion for the same year was equal to an average of 
1050 acres of the land, which, if divided into the last mentioned 
amount, gives an average of $11,557 an acre. 

According to the foregoing, the output of 1891, at thirty cents a 
ton, produced an amount sufficient to pay $577.50 an acre for the 
land exhausted during the year, besides providing an amount suffi¬ 
cient to pay interest at the rate of 6.32 per centum on the value, 
$180,607,000, of the remaining, and unexhausted field area at the 
rate, $577.5 per acre. The figures given for the value of the land 
are used for illustration only, the results obtained bv them are not 


39 


realized ; royalties are only paid on a small percentage of the output, 
the figures, however, are sufficiently potent to establish an idea of the 
value of the coal field upon the theory of current royalties. 

An output of 1,000,000 tons exhausts 25.82 acres of the average 
acre yield. This at thirty cents per ton, yields a sufficient amount 
to pay $577.50 per acre for the exhausted area, and five per cent, on 
the value at the same rate of nearly 10,000 acres. The tonnage 
decreases with every year’s output, but the coal lands will enhance 
in value for many years to come. 

The cost of the coal lands to the present owners, adding interest 
and contingencies, will not be less than $800 an acre, and this is 
equal to an average of 2.08 cents a ton on the average estimated 
product per acre. At two cents a ton the value of the field would 
be $240,000,000; interest upon which at six per cent, is $14,400,000— 
an amount equal to thirty-six cents a ton on last year’s product. 
Four per cent, interest would be equal to about 23.7 cents a ton on 
the same product. 

Adding the $240,000,000 to the $70,000,000, previously'referred 
to, as representing the value of improvements and colliery outfits, 
makes a total of $310,000,000. The interest on this amount we 
find as follows: 

$240,000,000 at six per cent, interest . . . $14,400,000 
70,000,000 at six per cent, interest . . . 4,200,000 

70,000,000 at five per cent, depreciation . 3,500,000 

Total $22,100,000 

'fhe- interest and depreciation distributed over the last year’s 
tonnage is equal to 54.63 cents. This represents the measure of the 
approximate cost, exclusive of profit, entailed by the ownership of 
coal lands and the construction, both inside and outside, of the col¬ 
lieries, with their equipments, in placing a ton of 2240 pounds of 
coal on the railroad car at the colliery in a marketable condition, 
additional to taxes, the cost of labor, and the ordinary colliery 
material supply. Using four per cent., instead of the six per cent., 
for the first two items—$14,400,000 and $4,200,000—the amount 
per ton would be 39.3 cents. 

COST PER TON ON CARS. 

The term, “ Cost per ton,” as applied by the Colliery Manager, 
generally means the total cost of labor,' including that of the officers, 
and the supplies necessary to place a ton of coal in a marketable 
condition on the railroad car at the colliery. The amount usually 


■ 


Cost of coal 
lands. 


Value of coal 
lands and 
collieries. 


Interest and 
depreciation. 


Items consti¬ 
tuting cost per 
ton. 



40 


Tonnages used 
to obtain 
averages. 


Average cost 
per ton. 


Misleading 
effect on cost 
per ton by 
increased ton- 
age of small 
coals. 


includes the cost of the ordinary repairs and additions to the mine 
equipments and improvements. Extraordinary charges for improve¬ 
ments and equipments are generally charged to the Capital Account. 
Perhaps no two managers take the same view of all the items of 
cost making up this charge, and it is not often that the same view 
is taken by the same person at the end of prosperous and unprosper- 
ous years; and on this account it is difficult to obtain the exact cost 
per ton for the tonnage produced even where published figures are 
available ; there is invariably some degree of uncertainty where 
explanations are not given as to what the exact cost is. The inac¬ 
curacy arising from this source, however, cannot be serious in the 
general average of so large a tonnage. 

Figures extending over the last ten years, and covering nearly ' 
145,000,000 tons, forty three per cent, of the total output, and dis¬ 
tributed, in good proportions, through the northern and southern 
sections of the field, yielded an average cost per ton of nearly $1.34. 
The highest cost was upwards of $1.50. For a tonnage a trifle less 
than a million—the cost was $2.90. The lowest cost, and this is for 
a large percentage of the tonnage, was only a few cents above a 
dollar; and it may be added, here, that considerable of the per¬ 
centage of the output, not included in the above figures, is produced 
for less than a dollar, when all of the small coals are included in the 
tonnage. The average cost per ton for the first five years of the 
decade was $1.38, and for the second $1.31, showing an improve¬ 
ment of seven cents a ton, or five per centum in the last decade. 
The figures used are largely those referred to in a preceding page 
and used in determining the value of the collieries. 

In comparing the cost per ton of the present with the past, it is 
necessary to take into consideration the comparative percentages of 
the small coal constituting the total output. As already stated, the 
small coals in the early history of the business were wasted on the 
culm banks, and to place this material on the railroad car generally, 
not only adds no cost, but saves the expense of hauling and 
unloading: to load it on the railroad car for the market increases 
the colliery output without adding cost. The colliery tonnage has 
been increased considerably during the last twelve or fifteen years in 
this manner. An increase of five per cent, would account for the 
seven cents improvement' in the cost per ton, and more than this 
quantity was in all probabilities realized. 

Since making the above statements my attention has been 
directed to more extensive data, published and available on this 
subject which will in subsequent pages be used in extension of its 
consideration. 


41 


The output of 1891—40,448,400 tons—at 81.34 per ton 
amounts to 854,201,000. This amount we take to represent ap¬ 
proximately the “ cost per ton on cars ” for the entire anthracite 
coal field, of this 836,134,000 is approximately the amount expended 
under ground, and 818,067,000 above ground. 

The relation of the cost of labor to that of the material is about 
as four is to one—See Statement “D,” page 47,—and at this ratio the 
labor cost was 843,609,000, or 81.072 a ton, and the material cost 
was 810,849,000, or 80.268 per ton. 

Comparing the above figures, which cover a period of ten years, 
with those prepared by the Government officers for the census year of 
1889, covering only one year, of a low output and the first, following 
a high tide year in the business, we find that the amount for labor 
was 81.07, and for material 80.30, making a total cost per ton of 
81.37. It shows that the results are remarkably close, coming, as 
they do, from independent methods and sources, and for dissimilar 
periods. 

The amount of taxes paid during the last ten years for a ton¬ 
nage exceeding 130,000,000 tons resulted in a trifle less than four 
cents a ton. Four cents is, perhaps, a good measure of this cost. 

The insurance is an item of very little importance as a factor in 
the cost of mining. Charges that have been made for this account 


will, perhaps, average half a cent a ton. The larger corporations do 
not insure their mining properties, at the present time, as a rule. 
The item in the former pages, providing for the renewal of improve¬ 
ments, will be considered as liberal enough to cover this charge. 

The following is a recapitulation of the total cost of the coal 
placed on the railroad car at the mines, based upon the tonnage 
of 1891: 


Coal lands, valuation. 

Colliery improvements, equip¬ 
ments, dead work and cut coal 
Renewal of collieries or annual 

depreciation. 

Taxes at four cents a ton product 

Tabor cost. 

Material . 


$ 240,000,000 at six per cent. 814,400,000 

70,000,000 at six per cent. 4,200,000 

70,000,000 at five percent. 3,500,000 

.. 1,618,000 

.43,609,000 

. 10,840,000 


Relative cost 
of labor and 
material. 


Census lisures 
compared with 
tile others. 


Taxes, 


Insurance. 


Recapitulation 
cost per ton. 


Total .178,167,000 

The total amount, 878,167,000, is equal to 81.93 2 per ton for 
the 1891 output. From this should be deducted the amount realized 
for rents of houses and the surface of the land, timber, etc., which 
will range, perhaps, from two to four cents per ton product. If it be 
taken at 3.2 cents a ton, it leaves a net average cost per ton of 81.90 









42 


in round numbers; the extreme averages will range from $1.(30 to 
$2.10. Divesting the business of the surplus coal land and charging 
it with the number of acres'exhausted during the year as indicated 
by the tonnage, at $800 an acre, with six per cent, interest on the 
amount added, the cost per ton, $1.90, would be reduced to $1.56 7 , 
which is approximately the actual cost per ton for placing a ton of 
marketable coal on the cars at the mines. 

In confirmation of the above resulting cost for mining, the subject 
will be extended into the following pages, based upon data collected 
by the Government officers and covering the entire coal field for the 
last four census years. 

COST PER TON , EXTENDED, LABOR, 
MATERIAL . 

The most important of the charges entering into the cost per ton, 
as has already been shown, is that of the cost of labor. A division 
of the mine labor is given in the Census Report for the year 1889 for 
the Anthracite Coal Fields of Pennsylvania as follows: 

Average number Average Wages 



employed. 

per day. 

Division of Above ground — Foremen . 

564 

$2.71 

labor and wages. „ „ Mechanics . 

4,720 

I.92 

“ Laborers . 

23.779 

I.29 

“ “ Boys, under sixteen years . . 

17,091 

0.62 

Below ground — Foremen . 

737 

3-05 

“ “ Miners . 

36,639 

2 40 

“ “ Laborers . 

35,376 

I.63 

“ “ Boys, under sixteen years . . 

4,770 

O .89 

Office force — Males . 

526 ^410,774 

“ “ Females* . 

1 

$250 

Grand total' number of employes . 

“ wages “ “ . 

Total average number employed above ground 
“ “ “ “ below 

124,203 

139,279,355 

46,154 

77,522 



Notes on ►Statement “ D,” page 47, gives the results for the Pennsylvania 

statement i). coa j including bituminous .and anthracite, for the Census 

Reports. In this statement we find that the cost per ton for labor in 
the anthracite coal field in 1860 was seventy-six cents, and the cost 
of material was twenty-three cents ; total, ninety-nine cents. In 
1870, the same items are, given in the same order, $1.64 and twenty- 
six cents; total, $1.90. In 1880, ninety-seven cents and twenty-nine 
cents; total, $1.28. In 1889, $1.06 and twenty-nine cents; total, 

* The coal mines of Great Britain had in 1891, 5819 females employed outside; in France in 
1888, 3336 females were employed at coal mines, and in Belgium in 1889, 12,131 females were 
• employed at the mines. 













SI.35. The result for 1870 is influenced by the effects of the inflated 
currency and results of the war. The average cost per ton for the 
four census years for labor and material was, labor, SI.10; material, 
twenty-eight cents ; both, $1.38. Throwing out the abnormal year, cost per ton 
1870, the average for the other three years would be ninety-seven froni census 
cents and fourteen cents; both, $1.11. The latter figures, no doubt, 
represent well the average cost for the three periods. 

The tons per capita will be fotind on the last mentioned state- Tons per capita, 
ment, and it will be observed that the result for the last census year 
shows a loss of nearly twelve per cent, against again for the previous 
census year. Owing to unexplained statistics, these latter figures are 
not precise enough to be accepted as an accurate comparison of the 
average individual labor. 


The result within the State bituminous field shows that the Results of bi- 


tuminous coal 
fie'd of Penna. 


Cost by 
counties. 


tons per capita advanced one-fifth in the last nine years, and for the 
same period the average wages advanced a trifle more than a fifth, and 
the cost per ton for labor fell from sixty-six cents to sixty four cents. 

From Statement “ C,” page 46, it will be observed that the cost Notes on stam¬ 
per ton for labor varies in the anthracite field in the different conn- ment “ c ” 
ties for 1889, from ninety-nine cents to $1.59, the average being 
$1.06 ; the cost of material used varied from twelve cents to thirty- 
eight cents, and averaged twenty-nine cents. The lowest cost is in 
Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties for labor, and the highest is in 
Dauphin County. 

Statement “ B,” on page 45, gives the cost per ton, including Notes on state 
improvements, dead work, taxes, royalty and insurance, for the ment " u ” 
anthracite coal field of Pennsylvania, t he United States coal field, 
and for several foreign countries. In this it will be found that the 
total cost of mining anthracite coal is from $1.60 to $1.65 a ton of 
2240 pounds. For a like ton, the cost of bituminous is sixty cents 
in Pennsylvania and $1.00 in the United States. In Canada it is 
$1.07; in Great Britain, $1.16; in Belgium, $1.41, and in nine 
operations in Europe it is seventy-two cents. 

The item of colliery supply is chiefly made up as follows: 

T rails, sheet and other iron and steel. 


Domestic and 
foreign 
collieries. 


Powder and all explosives. 
Horse feed. 

Harness. 

Mules and horses. 


Items consti¬ 
tuting supplies. 


Oil, cotton. 

Wire ropes. 

Picks, sledges, shovels, etc. 

Lumber and timber. 

The first item will perhaps run about four cents a ton ; the Cogt . {gu 
second, explosives, we have given on Statement “C,” for 1880, and it 
runs from one to eight cents in the different counties, averaging 6.9 
cents; perhaps six cents will cover it at the present. The other 


44 


Economic pros¬ 
pect for 
supplies. 


Cost of 
mine lumber. 


Sources of 
lumber supply 


Probable future 
source of 
supply. 


Cost per ton 
of mine 
lumber. 


items, not including lumber and timber, may, perhaps, vary from six 
to ten cents a ton. The cost of lumber we find on Statement “ C,” for 
1880. It runs from four to nine cents in different counties, and 
averaged 6.5 cents. It may average to-day a cent higher; some of 
the operations, however, will run as high as ten to thirteen cents. 
We find also on the same, Statement “B,” the cost per ton for lumber 
and timber in Canada, Great Britain and in Europe. It amounts to 
2.7 cents in Canada, 6.2 cents in Great Britain, and 8.7 cents in nine 
European collieries. 

In looking into the above list of mine supplies, in its relation to 
the future, it is scarcely necessary to consult statistics to be impressed 
that all of the articles included are likely to fall in their prices with 
the progress of commerce and population. The item of lumber and 
mine timber, which amounts to six or eight cents a ton, is perhaps 
the only one likely to have a claim for an advance in estimates run¬ 
ning into the future. The price of lumber and timber delivered at 
the mines to-day is not high, it is perhaps as low as it ever has been, 
and so low as to almost preclude the possibility of cutting any on the 
colliery property by the mining force, though it be in abundance. 
There has been an increased consumption of timber and this has 
advanced the cost per ton to some degree. 

The greatest lumber supply of the Anthracite Coast, for this 
country at the present time is in the South ; located largely within rail 
haulage. The facilities of the present large mining and transport¬ 
ing companies, with their railroads extending to the northern lakes, 
would seem to indicate that the supply of mine lumber and timber 
of the future would largely be drawn from the lakes, for the an¬ 
thracite business. The railroad companies carry part of their mine 
tonnage to the lakes, and can bring in their coal cars,—some of 
which are adapted for such purposes—mine lumber and timber as 
return freight at such low cost as to exclude the southern product. 
There will be no necessity for some time, however, to draw from any 
other than the present sources. 

With such easy access to a supply, that is practically inexhaust¬ 
ible, as far as the anthracite business of this State is concerned, 
there can be no reason for anticipating that the cost of mine lumber, 
in the Anthracite Coal Field, per ton of coal, will be materially af¬ 
fected. The experience given by the older countries, where mining 
has been in progress for centuries, is also encouraging, since the 
highest figure given for mine lumber and timber per ton is below nine 
cents. Great Britain has for the last half century been compelled to 
build brick and stone arches in its mines to support a number of 
its main avenues, under a crushing pressure, beyond the ability of 


STATEMENT “ B.’-Cost of Mining Anthracite and Bituminous Coal in Detail in Pennsylvania, United States, and Bituminous in Foreign Countries, 

with Value of Improvements, Equipments and Supplies. 


x 

o 

M 

« 

o 


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0.072 

0.886 

all 

2,240 

85,383.000 

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STATEMENT “ C.”—Pennsylvania Anthracite Coal Field, by Counties, Tonnage, Cost of Labor, Supplies, Powder, Lumber, Value of Improvements and 

Equipments, based upon Government Reports for Census Years I860, 1870, 1880 and 1889. 


Value 

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Average 1860, 1870, 1880 and 1889.81,700,000 $1.94 $1.10 $0.28 $0.^6 

Average i860, 1880 and 1889.67,689,000 $1.77 $1.00 $0.28 $0.49 

Average 1880 and 1889.60,443,000 $1.79 $1.02 $0.29 $0.48 














































































































































STATEMENT “ D.”—Showing the Tons Product, Cost of Labor and Supplies, Percentage of Cost due to Labor, Amount received for the Coal, 
Number of Employees, and Tons per Capita. Based upon the Government and other published Reports. 





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48 


Result com¬ 
pared by 
counties 


Advantage of 
one county 
over the other. 


Regional 

divisions. 


Counties pro¬ 
ducing coal in 
different 
regions. 


Cost per ton 
on cars by- 
regions. 


timber to resist. There is no report that the Anthracite Field has 
come to this as yet. The future of the mine timber question for the 
Anthracite Coal Field is providential and auspicious. 

Statement “C,” previously referred to, gives the result of the cost 
of mining, etc., by counties for the anthracite held based upon the 
same source as that of Statement “ D,” for three census years, with the 
average result for the fourth; it gives the tonnage, the amount received 
for the coal at the mines per ton, the average wages per ton, the 
average value of material per ton, cost of lumber, cost of explosives, 
value of improvements and equipments; it also gives the amount re¬ 
ceived for the coal after deducting cost of labor and material. From 
this statement we find that the Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties 
combined, have as a residue,—not profit—after paying for labor and 
material—averaged for the three years—58c., and for the last two 
years 51.9c. Carbon County had for the three years, 50.8c., and 
for the two years 44.5c. Northumberland for the three years had 
32.1c., and for the two years 24.9c. Schuylkill had for the three 
years 51.7c., and for the two 42.5c. This shows that Lackawanna 
and Luzerne had an average advantage of nearly nine and a-half 
cents for the last two years, and six and three-quarter cents for the 
three years, over Schuylkill County ; and in the same order seven¬ 
teen and twenty-six cents over Northumberland, and seven and four- 
tenths cents and seven and three-tenths cents over Carbon County. 
The figures are supposed to be those resulting after paying freight 
and all possible charges. 

In the above we have the cost per ton on cal's by counties, and 
for the entire field. There is another important division of the field, 
known as the Wyoming Region, Lehigh Region, and Schuylkill 
Region ; this may be termed as the railroad collecting division. 
The Wyoming Region includes Sullivan, Susquehanna, Lackawanna, 
and part of Luzerne Counties. A small portion of the field extends 
into Wayne County, which belongs to this region, but no coal has 
been mined from there. Sullivan County section of the field is 
practically outside of its commercial and geographical limits. 

The Lehigh Region takes in a part of Luzerne, Carbon and 
Schuylkill Counties. 

The Schuylkill Region embraces part of Schuylkill and all of 
Columbia, Northumberland and Dauphin Counties. 

The determination of the cost per ton on cars for the different 
regions is not possible from the available data, but it may be 
approximately determined. The average cost per ton on cars 
for the entire field and for the last two census years, is 81.31. 
This is three cents lower than the amount used in obtaining 


49 


the results given in the preceding pages, but it is based upon 
returns having to some degree at least, an official character, 
rendered in a form, bearing some of the characteristics of an 
affidavit; it is seven cents lower than the average for the last 
four census years, which includes the period of war, and three 
cents above the average for the three census years, 1860, 1880 
and 1889. The average cost per ton for the Wyoming Region in¬ 
cluding that portion of Luzerne County extending into the Lehigh 
Region, and a tonnage of about 90,000 tons, for Sullivan County, is 
81.23. For the southern portion of Carbon County the cost was 
about 81.61* and for the northern about 81.46 ; the average for the 
county is 81.48. The average cost for the counties constituting the 
Schuylkill Region was 81.46. It is not possible to give the precise 
figures for either of the regions from the data, but they are approxi¬ 
mated, based upon the two census years, 1888, 1889, as follows:— 

W yoming Field, cost per ton on cars, . . . $1.20 
Lehigh “ “ “ ... 1.34 

Schuylkill “ “ “ “ ... 1.46 

In the foregoing pages it has been shown that twenty-three cents 
is about the average cost of all other charges entering into the 
grand total cost per ton on cars at the mines, for interest on the 
investments in colliery improvements, equipments, taxes and insur¬ 
ance and all other cost usually entering into the account, and 
allowing for the value, with interest, of the coal lands exhausted in 
producing the tonnage. To enter minutely into this charge would 
show a few cents in favor of the Wyoming Region as against the other 
two. The result is also the product of no exact statement; it is 
produced by deduction, and will be taken for the sake of liberality at 
twenty-five cents for the present use. 

PASSES INTO THE FIELD. 

Nature was no less careful in the Pennsylvania Anthracite 
Coal Field, in its geographical and topographical provisions, than 
in its mineralogical. 

Excepting the Virginia Coal Field, near Richmond, and the 
Rhode Island Graphitic Coal Field, both comparatively insignifi¬ 
cant, tne Anthracite Field of Pennsylvania is the nearest to the 
Atlantic Coast’s navigable waters within the United States. The 
distance, in a straight line, from the eastern extremity of the field 
to tide water is about sixty-five miles, and while the country through 

* This is based upon the cost per ton of one firm for the years—not census years —1880 and 
1889 . 

d 


Cost per ton 
by regions. 


Cost per ton, 
other items 
than labor and 
material. 


Closeness of 
field to tide. 


50 


which the field is reached, from the coast, is not entirely free from 
ridges or mountains, there are none of a very prominent character. 
While some of the routes baffled the skill of canal engineers, 
the obstacles were easily overcome by the railroad engineers. 
Nearly all of the existing mountains have been channeled and di¬ 
vided by nature’s elements, so as to admit a more or less easy passage 
and entrance into the coal fields by the railroads at several points. 

The altitudes above tide within the Wyoming Region, along 
the valley, run from about 550 feet at the southern end, to about 
1100 feet at the northern. The altitude in the Lehigh Region, at 
Hazleton, is 1050 feet above tide. In the Mahanoy and Shamokin 
Valley it runs from about 850 feet to 1250 feet; the altitude of the 
Altitudes. Pottsville Valley runs from about 600 feet to about 1250 feet. The 
passes over the mountain, bordering the southern limit of the differ¬ 
ent regions are from 400 to 800 feet above the valleys, and to sur¬ 
mount this altitude, stationary engines have been located at the head 
of steep incline planes, at two points in the Wyoming Region, and 
at two in the Mahanoy and Shamokin Valleys. For all coal 
shipped eastwardly from the different fields to Philadelphia and 
New York, the altitudes given represent the total average gradient, 
in favor of the load to tide water, and it is almost a continuous 
descent. 

The shortest distance to New York from the coal field is by the 
Distances to R eac p U cr System* from Panther Creek, it being 124 miles. The 
shortest distance to Philadelphia is from New Boston, by the Penn¬ 
sylvania Railroad Company Schedule, 105 miles. The distance by 
the Reading, from Pottsville, is 93 miles. The different routes to 
New York vary from 124 to 237 miles, and to Philadelphia from 
105 miles to 177 miles. The shortest distance to Buffalo is 272 
miles, by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. The 
Buffalo distances vary from the one last given to 330 miles, from 
the Wyoming Field, and from 310 to 330 miles from Schuylkill 
and Lehigh Fields. 

The amount of indebtedness carried on part of the coal field, 
at six per centum interest, amounts in yearly interest, if paid, to an 
approach of $1.00 a ton, on the present annual product of the 
land owned. This burden upon the different companies varies from 
the $1.00 as a maximum down to say twenty cents, and less; 
the higher amounts bear with them a provisional tonnage, for 
the future, that will extend into the remotest period of the 
business. 

*The term “Reading System is intended to include the Lehigh Valley and the Central 
Railroad of New Jersey Companies' Railroads 


